Obstruction
by Marisa-san
Summary: Misty has been alone so long, and is missing Ash & Brock each and every day. When she finally meets up to travel with them, she finds things aren't the same with May around. Suddenly her life starts to spin out of control. AshxMisty, AshxMay. Sad literate
1. An Interruption

**Obstruction**

**Chapter One: **An Interruption

By: Marisa

Hello everyone!

That's right - I'm writing another new story. I don't typically like starting new stories when I have other unfinished ones, but this idea came to me and I couldn't pass it up. I was a big fan of old-school Pokemon and pretty much stopped watching when the show exited the third season, so when I found out Misty had been booted out as a main cast member... I was pretty shocked. However, I got the idea for this fic from that sad fact. Basically, this story is from Misty's perspective on how she feels about her separation from her two best friends, and having to deal with newly developed paranoia, and May. If you're into sad angsty stories, this is probably one for you! :)

I hope you enjoy, and please **review**. Of course you don't have to but whether it be praise or criticism, it really helps not only to encourage me to keep writing, but also to improve my writing ability.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Pokemon related and am in no way profiting from this story, but I do own this plot.

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The sound of a single pair of running shoes hitting against a marble floor squeaked out the air, each step resonating throughout the spacious room. The only sound to accompany it was that of a rickety container of water rolling along behind them. A mop stood within the bucket, the soap in the water forming around it.

I observed quickly over the area I would be mopping up; marble floors seemed to be magnets for the dirt clinging to shoes. I came to a halt and turned to the now stationary bucket behind me. Lifting the mop up and out, a trail of soapy water flung itself at me. Ignoring the splash, I merely jumped right into my work. I began to sweep the mop over the floor tiles, watching the dirty colour transform into a pure white one. The floor always shimmered beautifully when it was wet and rid of outside minerals.

After a while of mopping, I gradually became less and less interested in what I was doing. Almost every day it was up to me to clean up around the gym, and that got old real fast. I glanced around hoping to catch something interesting with my eyes, but as always, everything remained its same boring self.

Boring.

I spread the water around aimlessly on the tile and heaved a deep sigh. The more time I spent within the walls of the Cerulean gym, the more I found myself growing more frustrated inside. I loved living a life of travel and Pokemon related adventures, not one of slavery to my sisters.

I held my weight up with the mop as I leaned on it, peering down at the effortless cleaning job I'd done. With fatigue growing from constantly working, I took every chance I could get to take a break and rest. I could see my face reflected in the water staring back at me. I could feel my sleep deprivation affecting me just looking at the bags under my eyes. "Misty, you are a mess…." I said to myself.

"So is the floor. Like, clean it right." The sudden clanking of high heels against the marble floor that approached me quickly drew me from my thoughts, causing me to jump. The mop that had been supporting my weight tipped over from me shifting my weight suddenly, and caused me to tumble over with it. I let out a groan as I hit the ground, a new pain throbbing in my thigh.

"Daisy!" I snapped from the ground, "Don't just sneak up on me like that… _and _eavesdrop when I talk to myself." I gave a weak laugh. Slipping my hands onto the wet floor for support, I hoisted myself up to discover my whole side was soaked. "Well that's great. Thanks, Daisy." I said, exaggerating a fake anger. She caught onto the light attitude and laughed as well.

"You shouldn't be like talking to yourself anyway you nut job." She laughed. "And really, you shouldn't be gazing off. Stay focused!" She clapped her hands together in an attempt to harness my attention. I merely glared at her. "Look Misty, this isn't some like pig-pen we're running. It's a theatre!"

"It's a _gym_." I corrected. Daisy rolled her eyes, her hands finding a home on her hips. Her typical stance. Her face constantly bore her 'I'm better than you' face, and I hated that, but I merely smirked at her attempts to intimidate me. It seemed as though the more fame my sisters attracted, the more irritating and stuck-up they became. But perhaps that was because the more fame they attracted, the more I had to clean, and thus the more they ordered me around. They made it clear that it was a top priority that _I_ do all the cleaning, for I was 'not beautiful enough to be performing in shows,' and I had to 'make use of myself somehow.' But that still wasn't fair, was it?

"Ugh, whatever. It's like the same thing."

"They're not the same thing." I argued, crossing my arms over my chest, rather than collecting the mop that'd hit the floor. I merely glared at my older sister, awaiting her next pathetic comeback. While I was the youngest of the "Sensational Sisters," I still believed I was the smartest by far.

She averted my glare and simply stood at the area I had been cleaning. "Well don't just stand there," Daisy ordered. "Can you like do your job? Clean the floor and pull your weight, hun!"

Suddenly I could feel our light mood switch into tension mode, as no one was showing any hints of smiling or laughing anymore. Her words had struck more of a bad chord in me this time. I was not, and never would be a slave to my annoying sisters. I was not just her pawn to control. And whether or not I was pulling my weight was not even a question, considering I did all the labour and all my sisters did was what they enjoyed - putting on an act.

Out of protest, I kicked the mop away from me, smirking at my defiance. "If you don't like the job I'm doing, how about you _do it yourself_. Learn some work skills." I laughed as I brushed off my hands as if to symbolize the end of my services to her.

She didn't find it so funny though. "Um, how do you expect someone like _me _to do this? Like, I _just _got a manicure. And Lily, Violet and I have to prepare for the show tonight." She flicked her hair behind her shoulder, before examining her nails. "Someone like you, who doesn't have the looks for shows, should definitely be put to _some_ kind of work."

"Because swimming around and trying to attract men is _such_ work." I rolled my eyes. I heard my sister gasp in front of me.

"Attract men?" She repeated, astounded that I would say such a thing. "How could you like say that? Our performances are like serious works of art that the three of us put a lot of time and effort into!" She exclaimed. "I mean, I can't help it if I just have like, ridiculous good looks, and you don't."

I merely laughed at my sister's foolish words. I was used to these insults. Every day a whole storm of them rained on me, but I was strong enough to not let it get to me. But don't get me wrong, it wasn't like I wanted to be reminded of what I didn't have. "Just because I don't cover myself in five pounds of make-up, and don't care about making myself up to impress men, doesn't mean I'm ugly." I snapped, defending myself. I somewhat regretted what I said afterwards, not intentionally wanting to put down my sister. "And really Daisy, you shouldn't even be putting on your shows. You _should_ be helping me. This is a _gym_, not a theatre."

"Okay, so it's a gym. Gyms still need to be clean."

"But I'm not your slave!" I cried out. "You can't just expect to have everything done for you, you're not some _princess._" I could tell my sister took offence to this, but protecting herself from appearing stuck-up, she ignored it. Not that it mattered. We all knew she was stuck up anyway.

"Look, Misty. I'm not trying to lecture you but like, if you're not doing this then you'd just be sitting around doing nothing while the rest of us worked. That's totally not fair, you should at least do _something_."

From merely that sentence alone, I took the liberty of switching tension mode to full on argument mode. "Do something? Do _something!_" I exclaimed in disbelief, a frustration growing in me. "Every day it is my job to battle the trainers that come here looking for a _gym _battle." I explained. "I have the gym's reputation to maintain and must constantly fight since you, Lily and Violet are incapable. That is work enough." I paused, taking a moment to prepare my next complaint. "Even though I do _that _though, I must still sit outside for hours in the cold, so that I can handle _your_ customers. I must sell _your _tickets to them for _your_ shows, and must handle the crazy people who act up. _You_ don't even have to deal with your customers, you just perform. How hard that must be!" I could not read Daisy's expression, but I didn't seem to have gotten through to her. I carried on. "Ever since you three came back to the gym, you've all been acting conceited and stuck-up - not that you weren't always. But I notice it even more now." I complained further. "You think you're all that. So you gained a little fame with your theatre, do you really think you're _that_ big of a star? You're _not_." I was starting to lose control of my anger. Sure, I had always had a temper, but only in the time that I'd been working in the gym had I not been able to know when to calm down and take a breath. Usually I'd been able to control my emotions once they got to a certain extent, but it was getting more and more out of hand the more time went on….

"Ok, Mist, you need to calm down a little please, thanks." She said, her tone exhibiting that she was also growing annoyed. Sure, I'd gone off on a little rant there, but I had the right to do so. It wasn't like I was doing anything irrational or acting crazy. I definitely was _not_ crazy, but sometimes my sisters made me feel as though I was.

"While you were gone I looked after this gym for you. For all three of you." I said pointedly, attempting to bring myself back to a calm level. "And what do I get in return? I get _this_." I stated, gesturing towards the knocked over mop and bucket.

"Um, why are you like so irritable. It's really annoying. You're always yelling and bossing people around. No wonder you can't get a boyfriend." My sister commented, as though she were ignoring everything I'd just said.

That was the last straw. The words she'd just spoken had blown my top off. I could feel myself beginning to hurt inside; intense amounts of anger and sadness I'd been bottling up were rising. Although I was very close with my sisters, I didn't show them my emotions very often. If the conversation continued any longer, I didn't know when I would actually be arguing to really hurt her feelings.

I'd been angry before, but recently I'd become like a ticking time bomb. It was probably the lack of sleep.

"It's _always_ about guys with you, isn't it?" I spat venomously. "I'm going home."

Before my sister could respond--which would result in me lashing out at her uncontrollably--I turned and started towards the exit. I needed to get out of the stupid gym. I needed to get out of my sister's grip on me. I needed to get out of Cerulean City.

I did not stay to hear her retaliation, I simply exited to get home as quickly as possible.

I exited the gym, and was quickly greeted by the wind brushing against my face. It felt good to be out of that stuffy building and into some nice fresh air. The weather wasn't much colder than the inside of the building however, just less stuffy.

What I really wanted was to just get to my bed, curl up under the blankets, and sleep forever. To be let out of my contract of slavery with my sisters, to forget this fatigue and frustration, and to get some well deserved sleep. With all the work I'd been doing lately, it was rare when I got more than four hours of sleep. When it was actually time for me to be resting, I was kept awake by my thoughts. They were nagging me constantly. They circled around my head and constantly brought up past hurt to the surface.

I wasn't an angry person. Not usually. I mean sure, I'd always had a temper. Maybe I lashed out one or two times… but I was never actually an _angry_ _person_. But that fact was changing. _I_ was changing, and that fact was killing me. The fact I wasn't the same happy Misty was a fact that was always in the back of my mind, but I couldn't change it. I used to be happy back in the day, and in those days, the only time I was angry was when Ash said something stupid and caused an argument between us.

Ash….

Even though I was beginning to feel lost as a person, there was always one thing I knew for certain. I missed Ash and Brock so very badly. There was never a day where I was left from the thoughts of my friends. _How are they doing?_ or _Will I see them soon?_

As I approached my home, I dreaded walking through the door. It may have been a rather crazy thing to say, but living in that house was no where near as good as the times when I was camping in the wilderness along with Ash and Brock.

Stepping into the house, I slipped off my shoes at the door, and dropped my bag alongside them. I gave a quick stretch before making my way to my room.

As I made my way down the hallway, a picture caught my eye. It had sat there for a long time, but it was rare when I actually stopped to take a good look at it.

It was a picture of my sisters and I when I was around the age of nine. We all looked so much younger in the photo. It was always a shock to see how much I'd grown. Seeing the smiles on all our faces in the old photo made a small grin tug at my lips. But it was unfortunate that we were not as happy now as we were then. What had happened to us sisters? We still were close and valued each other... but things just weren't the same as they'd been whe we were younger. I loved my sisters, they meant the world to me. However when I was around them, I could see why I left on my Pokemon adventure in the first place. We just… weren't compatible.

I shook my head of the thoughts of my family and made my way to my bedroom. When I saw my bed, I immediately felt better. Just knowing I'd be able to sleep calmed all the anger in me that I'd felt previously.

Without changing into something more comfortable, I simply slipped into my bed, raising the blankets over my head.

Regardless of liking to camp with Ash and Brock, nothing beat my bed.

Ash… and Brock. The amount I missed them was incredible and unmatchable. They were like the brothers I never had. When you grow up with only sisters, you always wonder what it'd be like if you had brothers instead. Due to those two, I knew what it was like. And I loved it.

However, as much as I missed them, I always felt as though they did not miss me. We were like the common childhood best friends in the scenario where one moves away, and the ones who remain slowly forget about their old friend. We went from seeing each other every day, to seeing each other twice a year. My sisters required me to come back to Cerulean so I could watch the gym for them. This would mean that I had to leave my two favourite boys. My family. We promised to meet again, which of course we did. But when my sisters came back, I made no effort to join back up with Ash. When I went to visit him, he had begun to act indifferent towards me, and not even excited that I was there. I was becoming a background memory. He had May and her little brother Max to accompany him now.

What I noticed was how much May was taking my place. She was very fond of Ash, not that fact was bad or anything. He deserved good friends, and Max and May were just that. But she was becoming my replacement, and the fact Ash could replace me so easily was rather heartbreaking… heartbreaking only because Ash is just a dear friend to me, of course.

When I had caught the news of Ash visiting Kanto once more, I quickly became excited. This would be his chance to come and visit me at the gym! He'd be in the region a lot, and probably nearby! Why wouldn't he come to see me?

Well, I was mistaken.

When he did not think to come see me, I knew I was forgotten. I knew that his Pokemon journey was far more important to him than me, a longtime friend. Or maybe it was that I _was_ totally forgotten to his new sidekick, May.

That thought always caused my blood to rush, no matter how many times I thought it. It was always like a blockade that was preventing me from getting to sleep, but it was inevitable for me not to think those thoughts. Every night I was consumed with my feelings of being forgotten.

Maybe Ash _was_ trying to forget me. Perhaps when I visited him, he was secretly cursing my name for consistently following him to wherever he went that was in my reach. When he saw me, perhaps he just wanted to wish me away.

I could feel my eyes beginning to sting; I had been letting my thoughts affect me too much. But the more I thought, the heavier my eyes became, and eventually I drifted off to sleep.

I'm not sure what the time was, but shortly after falling into my unconscious state, I could feel myself being drawn from it due to a shrill noise. At first I tried to block it out, but the noise continued going off and overpowered my need for sleep. When I was fully conscious and pulled from my slumber, I realized it was the phone that was going off. Probably someone calling for information about my sisters' show. That very thought caused me to grind my teeth together, almost painfully.

I stumbled to the phone, quickly running my fingers through my hair in attempt to tidy it. I then turned to the monitor and picked up the phone. The face on the other end surprised me. Seeing her was almost too coincidental. Stopping myself from gawking in disbelief, I collected my thoughts and greeted her.

"Mrs. Ketchum!" I exclaimed. It was unexpected, but rather fortituous for her to be the person calling me considering how much I'd been missing the group lately.

She gave me a heart warming smile, although I could see her inspecting me. I must have looked like a mess.

"Hello dear." She said happily. "Did you just wake up?"

"Yes, actually, I did." I confessed. Her question confirmed what I'd just been thinking - I must have looked as bad as I felt. "Is something the matter?" I asked, trying to get straight to the point and taking all the focus off of myself. And as much as I was interested in what Delia had to say, and what everyone was up to, at the moment I found sleep more important. I got cranky when people woke me up.

"Oh, yes." She said, recalling what she called for. "Ash is stopping into Pallet sometime this week, I was thinking maybe you should come down to meet the gang since I know how you miss them." She smiled.

As she spoke the words, I felt an emotion akin to shock take over my mind. It was kind of like a prayer of mine was answered right at that moment. The chances of Ash coming back, just as my thoughts were consumed of how he left me here… it was strangely coincidental. And it was a perfect way to get away from my sisters.

I smiled, "I would like that very much, Mrs. Ketchum." As the words rolled off my tongue, I could feel my previous thoughts coming back into my mind. My thoughts of betrayal, and how the group had _wanted _to forget me. "But, maybe it's better if I don't come. After all, Ash and I haven't seen each other in a while, so it might be awkward or something…." I wanted to kick myself as I spoke the words. Why would I say that? I knew inside Ash must not want to see me… But did that mean in order to follow his wishes I had to sabotage myself? But if I'd learned anything, I knew it was to set something free, rather then hold on to it forever….

"Oh dear," She replied, not receiving the answer she was expecting. "Ash would most likely be expecting you!" That fact made me feel worse, almost as if he always had to deal with me. Probably before he would come, he would make a bet with Brock and May that I will be there, awaiting his arrival. How pathetic I must have seemed.

"I'm sure Ash would be pleased just to see _you_, Mrs. Ketchum. He doesn't need to add more people to his life right now as I'm sure his journeys are tough. He just needs to focus on his Pokemon," and his _real_ friends.

I couldn't tell what she was thinking at that moment, but I could tell she was coming to a conclusion.

"Misty, it could be a long while before you have the chance to see your friends again. You should take advantage of the opportunity." I weighed my options. She _was_ right. Ash only had to deal with me twice a year. It wasn't as though I was still camping with him and annoying him every night. It was twice a year. Besides, maybe I just wanted to see Brock! I'm sure _he'd_ appreciated my presence….

Maybe not.

I flashed her a doubtful smile, attempting to display my happiness… if I had any. "You're right." I nodded. I could see her face light up to my words. "I'll just pack some stuff and be right over, since I might have to stay a day or two." She nodded along, pleased with my decision.

Our conversation went on for several minutes more, before I retreated back to my room. I didn't know what I had just gotten myself into, but I was dead tired. As I collapsed on my bed, and prepared for some sleep, one thought kept reoccurring in my mind.

I was going to see Ash Ketchum.

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Hope it wasn't too bad. And thanks sooo much for reading. :D Although this was the first chapter, and it may not have been amazing, it will get better with time! So hang around, and please **REVIEW!**


	2. Trekking Through Uncertainty

**Obstruction**

**Chapter Two: **Trekking Through Uncertainty

By: Marisa

Hey everyone. It's been a bit too long for a chapter update, but I am now presenting you with chapter twoooo! Whoot whoot. And thank you all so much for your reviews last chapter.

And as always…

**Read **& **REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Pokemon, or anything related to creating the series.

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_Last time: Misty was fed up with her life at the gym and got into a brief fight with her sister Daisy. Feeling drained and frustrated, she retreated back home for some sleep. While reviewing her feelings of loneliness and separation from Ash and Brock, she was shocked to see Mrs. Ketchum calling her. She was told Ash was coming back to town in a couple of days, and invited her to come see them. Spending a moment to decide, Misty finally agreed to going to see Ash and everyone back in Pallet town._

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I didn't usually leave Cerulean City, so it was kind of like a trip down memory lanewhen I began to make my way to Pallet Town. I would constantly point things out to myself, such as where Ash, Brock and I had made camp, or where Ash's stubborn attitude had led us to trouble. While it was amazing to relive the memories, it was depressing at the same time, for I would not experience all those amazing moments of my childhood again. It made me extremely envious when I would remind myself of the fact that Ash and Brock were still experiencing those adventures along with May and her brother, and I wasn't. It was unfair. It was selfish of me to feel that way, but I still believed it to be unfair.

I hated it so much that May and Max were accompanying them. I would admit it, I didn't like it at all. Ash and Brock were my family, after all. I supposed you could call it jealousy. Ash, Brock and I were the original _trio._All those amazing times we experienced… it shouldn't have been all taken away. It shouldn't all have been taken away from only me.

I would often wonder if Brock ever missed our adventures together… I mean, him and I grew rather close as friends. Ash had always been very stubborn and hot-headed, and it had always been up to Brock and I to make sure he never made grave mistakes. We'd always been like one family looking after each other… but maybe Brock preferred the group that he was travelling with now, opposed to the group that seemed to have been so long ago….

I knew regardless of the two boys' decisions though, that Pikachu must have missed me. Pikachu was one of the best Pokemon relationships I'd ever had. I lovedit as if it had been my own Pokemon, and I had always assumed it to feel the same way.

I knew that Ash must not have cared for our group's end. He only cared for his pokemon journey. The only thing that drove him to be out there and on those adventures was his desire to be a Pokemon master. But I often wondered if he missed those days, when it was the three of us, the originals, Ash, Misty and Brock.

But who was I kidding? If he missed me being there, he wouldn't be with May and Max… Well, maybe he would be, but he would still have me there with him, wouldn't he? He would have suggested me coming along with them when he saw me, right? He would have come to visit me when he was in Kanto, wouldn't he?

It had only been a day since I'd departed from home. It had been early in the morning, _really _early. I didn't want to say goodbye to my sisters as I was still angry, although afterwards I'd wished I had let them know where I was going. Ah well, I could always phone them, and I'd be home after the visit.

I'd actually packed more than what was needed, because I had really been hoping on staying at the Ketchum residence longer than expected. I needed a long time away from home, and hopefully Delia wouldn't mind my presence. And I didn't know how long Ash and them would be staying for, but perhaps they would be staying a long time, and then I'd have an excuse to be there.

However, what if they didn't want me there? What if they wanted me to leave as soon as possible?

I sighed, trying to shake away my pessimistic thoughts. They weren't going to be doing me any good when I was already half way to Ash's house. It wasn't like I could just back out of the situation now.

The sky gradually grew darker and darker. I didn't really want to stop moving, but seeing as how soon enough it'd be impossible to see through the fields and forests, I would have to make camp. Alone.

Oh, how much I hated the incredibly long walk to get all the way to Pallet Town. If only Ash knew how much trouble I went through just to see him.

After setting up camp and falling asleep, I found that I didn't stay that way for very long. I quickly woke to the early morning; the sun was barely making its appearance into the sky when the chirping Pidgeys woke me. I wished to return back into my dreamworld, however leaving early would be necessary to make it to the Ketchum residence within the afternoon hours.

As I journeyed onward through the morning I found the heat was growing unbearable, and the sun was not going to go down for hours. I was thankful I was close to entering Pallet Town, otherwise I would have sacrificed being there surprising the group to lie in some shade for the day. It was one of the hottest days I'd felt in a long time, but perhaps that was due to me being in an air conditioned gym for most of my days.

As I became more exhausted, I could feel myself slowing down. The packed bag strung across my shoulder that I was towing along wasn't exactly making my struggle any easier; beads of sweat were already springing up on my neck and forehead.

It seemed as though I was passing by the same scenery continuously. A couple of trees, a field of grass, a few Ratatas running along - this had been the atmosphere I'd been in traveling for the past hour or two. But Pallet was a small, farm-like town. I didn't really expect anything other than what I was seeing. But I was sure the last couple of times I'd gone to the little town the scenery had been more exciting. Perhaps the fact was that I just wasn't as excited to see them as I usually was. Going to greet Ash and Brock was seeming like more of a chore than a fun outing.

Struggling along, after what seemed like a very extended and painful period of time, I could finally see I was entering into Pallet Town. I could tell this from catching sight of (or more like my eyes inevitably falling upon) Professor Oak's laboratory. It was probably the biggest, most valuable attraction of anything in the whole town. As my eyes fell over this building, I felt as though a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. My travelling was finally over with… for a while anyway. And returning to a place that I hadn't seen in so long, it actually seemed to lighten my mood. I could remember the town considerably well, considering I'd only visited a countable number of times.

As I ventured onward through the town, there were many things that I recognized. The more that I saw, the more happiness started to flood my emotions. I hadn't been there in so long, so it was kind of like a dream to be in one of my favourite towns….

Although, it's only my favourite because that was where it all began….

As I approached the Ketchum house (oh, how I adored that house) I took a deep breath. For all I knew, everyone could already be inside the house,celebrating their arrival and accomplishments. I wasn't really prepared to greet them yet… or deal with Ash…. I didn't know if I could ever deal with Ash's uncaring attitude towards my presence. Already I could feel myself wishing I never came. As much as I loved the little town, the little house, and loved them… I didn't want to have to face pain anymore. It was becoming too much of a struggle, and I was already exhausted.

But for all I knew, they could not even have even been there yet. They could've been miles away, taking their time and enjoying each other's company. Embracing the sunlight, and taking as many breaks as they needed underneath the shade, settling for a picnic, and eating Brock's delicious cooking (oh how I missed his cooking terribly.)

I began to feel my frustration return. I knew that going there was a bad idea, but I let Delia talk me into it….I was just going to end up frustrated sitting around watching other people embrace each other's happiness as they engage in conversation of the exciting adventure I did not partake in.

As I approached the cute little house I let my bag drop to the dusty pathway below me, my arm loosing all strength to keep a hold on it. And for all I knew, Ms. Ketchum was inside peering out her front window at me, wondering what in the world was I doing standing right on the walkway to her home appearing all defeated. But I didn't dare look up to see if she was.

God, that heat was starting to getting to me.

I heaved another sigh, before picking up my bag again, and reluctantly approaching the little red door. I literally peered at it for several moments before making the effort to knock. At this point, I could feel my heart beating heavily inside my ribcage. I guess it would be safe to assume that I was scared to know if they were in there…. If they were in there, I would be about to face the people that I hadn't seen in so long. I felt new beads of sweat rising up on my neck, however these went from the heat.

My knocking was a loud, interruption to the silence around me.The silence afterwards was interrupted by my heart beating even more insanely. That silence at the Ketchums' doorstep was one of the most nerve racking silences in all my life.

In only a few moments, but what could have been more than fifty ticks of a clock, the door swung open, a gust of cool air whipping across my face. I was thankful I was about to enter an air conditioned home, or so I assumed.

Standing before me was Delia, her hand still grasped around the door knob. When she recognized it was me, her lips quickly grew into a smile.

"Misty!" She exclaimed, before pulling me into a huge hug. I returned the hug, however I did not really appreciate the extra warmth she added to my already dehydrated body. As she pulled away to examine, her smile subtly faded. I must have not looked too great as my hair was damped from sweat,and my posture exhibited a great feeling of fatigue.

"Hi Ms. Ketchum." I managed to say, my tongue so dry I felt as though I could grate cheese on it.

"Oh dear, you look very tired. You should come in and have a glass of water." She must have noticed it was blazing hot, compared to her cool house. She moved out of the way to allow me to get by, but when I did not move to enter, she gave me a weird look.

"Um, is everyone here already?" I squeaked out.

"Oh, heavens no. They shouldn't be here for another day or so." She smiled. She must have understood that it was hard enough for me to come in the first place, but to face them looking like _that_… well….

I entered the house rather quickly, embracing the cold air happily.

Considering how small the Ketchum's home was, I always found it odd they had a guest bedroom. Perhaps it was Ash's father's when he had lived there? But would he not have slept with his wife? But I digress.

Every time that I'd come over, I had always been told to treat it as my own room.After making small chatter with Delia,the first place I made my way to was the guest room. Dumping my bag immediately on the floor beside me, I flopped onto the bed, the mattress feeling like heaven to my sore back. I took several minutes just to relax into the bed and absorb the cool air. Lying there in silence once again, Delia did not ask any questions.

Figuring it'd be rather rude to just lie in the bed all day, I eventually left the bed and made my way to find Mrs. Ketchum. I found her in the kitchen preparing some kind of meal.

"Well, you must have had a hard trip in that heat!" She said as I approached her, as if responding to what I was about to say.

"Well, it certainly wasn't a walk in the park." I replied honestly, giving a weak laugh.

"You should go take a shower dear, and then change into clean clothes while I make dinner." She smiled, as she continued her cooking. I simply watched her.

"Thanks for letting me stay, Mrs. Ketchum. I really appreciate it." I said before turning away to go use their plumbing facilities.

After cleaning up, my mood actually lightened a bit more. It felt nice to be out of my dirty clothes. The shower itself was heavenly against my dirty skin, and the shampoo was just what my hair was beckoning for. I slipped into some casual clothes - just something comfortable to wear around the house. I began to feel better the more comfortable I became.

It was good to be in another home aside from my own. I had needed to get away from my sisters for a while and the areas that they had tainted. I was looking forward to finally going to sleep without having to wake up insanely early just to work.

My nose caught the scent of something seemingly delicious and I immediately made my way from the guest room to the kitchen area. I wasn't surprised to find a delicious scent wafting around; Delia's cooking had always been some of the best, and the aromas they'd given off had always made me extremely eager to eat the meal.

The meal she prepared was something a little too formal, but perhaps she deemed me worthy of a good meal after all my struggles. I hadn't really seen or eaten anything like her cooking in some time considering I cooked for myself… and well, I couldn't cook.

"This looks delicious!" I exclaimed, taking my seat at the table hurriedly, waiting for the food to be served.

"I'm glad you think so, Misty." She replied, dishing out two plates of her cooking. As she laid my plate before me, I lightened up immediately. Maybe being out here in Pallet Town wouldn't be so bad after all. Suddenly everything just seemed to be falling into place.

After saying grace, we began to eat. I tried my hardest to use my manners, but I couldn't help but go through the meal rather quickly. It was hard to maintain conversation with Delia when my mouth was always full.

"So what do you do up there in Cerulean now?" She asked. I swallowed my food and cleared my throat before answering.

"Well my sister's have come home. They basically run their shows all the time, and they make me do everything else."

"What exactly _is _everything else?" She inquired.

"Well like, I still have to do the gym battles and stuff, 'cuz no one else knows how to battle apparently. On top of that, I have to sell _their_ tickets for them. Oh, and the big one. I have to clean everything_, all the time_. And what do they do? Perform. That's all they do." I ranted. I felt resentment towards my sisters just thinking about them. I didn't really want to talk about them, and just wanted stop thinking of them all together; I didn't want to go into a fit of rage in front of Ms. Ketchum.

"I see…" Was all she could say, as she picked through her food. Unlike her, I was still mowing down at a fast rate. I was starving.

"So, how is Ash and everybody?" I asked casually, though I actually was eager to know. Watching her pick slowly through her food, she finally responded.

"Well I haven't talked to them much, but they seemed to have accomplished a lot. Ash seems more mature -my baby is growing up so fast!" She smiled to herself as she surveyed her food. "He must have had to face many struggles. I'm just glad he's okay." She sighed.

I knew what I would hear would make me upset but I asked anyway, and now I _was _growing upset. I hated being left out of their journeys. I was jealous.

I sighed, "It must be hard for you to get to only sit at home wondering if your son is alright or not. You don't even know what's going on with them, and you hardly even get to see him." In some ways, I could see how Delia and I were very similar. In fact, it was as though she understood my pain because in some aspects she had to face my problems herself.

"Yes…"she agreed. "it _is_ hard for me sometimes, but I would never try to stop Ash from living his dream. I do miss him constantly, but he's strong and I know he'll do his best in whatever he does. I have faith in him." I nodded along. It was true, Ash was stubborn he never gave up. "He reminds me so much of his father." I could see her stiffen as she spoke the words. I never knew what had happened to Ash's father, or who exactly he was. "He was always out on adventures, always trying his best…"

"Excuse me for asking, but what exactly happened to your husband?" I kind of regretted asking it as it probably came across rude if in fact something negative had happened, but I was curious to know. I had a feeling she wouldn't explain the answer fully to me, but I guess I'd never know what she would have said, because by the time she was prepared to answer, there was a load of commotion near the entrance of the home. A cluster of voices was heard, and I felt my heart drop.

"Mom! We're home earlier than expected! I was eager to come and see you- hey what smells so good? Did you prepare-" As he entered into the house and hung up his jacket, he turned around to see his mother.Rather than seeing his mother cooking, he saw her _and_ me at the dining room table eating. He just looked at me for what seemed like minutes, (although it was probably only seconds) before he squeaked out "Misty!"

I could hear rustling behind him. "Did you prepare _Misty_?" From behind the Pokemon trainer identified as Ash Ketchum, popped the head of my dear friend Brock. "Hey it's Misty!" He smiled. It was a friendly genuine smile. I smiled back, I could feel my heart racing inside my chest.

"It's been a while, Mist."

* * *

Whewt whewt! Another chapter down. Hopefully this one was a bit better? Thank you for reading, and review please. :D


	3. Rush of Emotion

**Obstruction**

**Chapter Three: **Rush of Emotion

By: Marisa

Hey everybody. Hurrah for chapter updates!

Just a little note, I didn't actually watch any of the Advance series of Pokemon, except like two episodes, so I honestly don't even know how Max is supposed to act. If him and May are OOC, please forgive me. I'm trying my best though.

Disclaimer: Pokemon is, and never will be mine, otherwise I'd be filthy rich and living in Japan.

* * *

_Last time: After being persuaded by Mrs. Ketchum, Misty decided to make her way to Pallet Town to meet up with Ash & company. On her journey, she couldn't help but relive past memories of her adventures with Ash and Brock. She began to regret her decision to go, but continued to make her way there none-the-less._

_Once she entered the town, she began to feel more at ease. Meeting up with Mrs. Ketchum at Ash's house, she began to relax and feel at home. She showered and then attended dinner with Mrs. Ketchum just before Ash entered through the front door._

* * *

Ash, Brock, May, and Max. They were a group of four that took part in travels across the regions of Japan, and were always in search of new and rare Pokemon while trying to maintain their own. They each had their own reasons for being in the group, and their own aspirations, goals, and destinies. Whether it was to learn, to grow, to win, or to accomplish it all, each of their destinies had intertwined with one another thus bringing them together. Perhaps they were meant to be together and accomplish things with each others help.

But I didn't think so.

When he entered through the front door, Ash had immediately sent a greeting out to his mother. When he noticed I was sitting adjacent to Delia, he froze dramatically. When his eyes met with mine, it was almost as though there was an invisible line that connected from our pupils. It made us whole, as though it was two parts joining together. It was as though I had a huge gap within myself where something was missing, and it was instantly filled the moment our eyes connected. Almost as if our feelings were like a puzzle, I had found the perfect piece to fill the hole of emptiness.

Tearing the connection apart, my eyes shifted to the mix of bodies directly behind the Pokemon trainer. Recognizing them as Max and May, I quickly felt that puzzle piece crumble in my fist. I almost resented their presence, only because I knew they were pieces that didn't fit into my life. They shouldn't have been standing before me, but they were. And what made me feel worse about my feelings, was how nice they had seemed last time I had met them. There was no logical reason for me to dislike them, but for some reason I did.

"Misty!" May exclaimed. She flashed a smile at me that seemed extremely real--and maybe it was--but I didn't believe she could really be happy to see me.

May was probably one of the rare people you find that is genuinely kind and selfless, and yet I couldn't bring myself to like or accept her. Because of that, I felt like a terrible person.

I smiled in return. And as much as I wished it to be as genuine a smile as hers, it wasn't. As happy as I should have been, I knew inside I wasn't. Just being there and seeing them all together… It hurt. To see that their group prevailed in their journeys and were capable of being a team was a fact that I hated. It was selfish of me to feel that way, but it was beyond my control.

Ash, the boy I'd been dying to see wasn't even acknowledging my presence since he'd given me his greeting. He was busy taking off his shoes, taking his bag to his room, and doing whatever else he could do that didn't include me. You would think that when two very close friends met, they'd be dying to catch up on how life had been. That wasn't the case with Ash. Even May who I hardly knew seemed more excited about hearing about my life than Ash or even Brock.

Brock appeared to have matured. Physically, he was even taller than before (and he had always been the tall one.) His facial structure was generally the same, as well as his hair length. His chest had become broader; his body was becoming that of a young man than that of a young boy. Mentally he was still the Brock I loved, but he'd toned down. He seemed much calmer this time around. Perhaps all the rejections I presumed he had received had finally gotten to him.

May and Max appeared relatively similar to that which they appeared in my memories. May still had more than a head on her brother in height, and Max still wore his glasses and hair the same way.

Delia had left the table to visit her son in his bedroom. He was definitely taking his time to make himself at home. But perhaps I was just jumping to conclusions and being paranoid about him not wanting to see me. After all, it was his home and he probably did wanted to unpack a little.

May, Max, and Brock had taken a seat at the table with me, all with smiling faces.

It sickened me to see them so happy. I envied their happiness. I didn't want them to have it, only because I didn't. It made me sound like a terrible person, but what didn't? Reviewing those thoughts however, I was glad at least I could recognize I was acting insane. I knew I loved my friends, and even if it meant me being miserable, I should always wish them happiness. That was what I believed… so why were my feelings speaking otherwise?

"So Misty," Brock piped up, "how is everything at Cerulean these days? I haven't been able to ask you about it for a while." The others listened closely, all focusing on me. The fact that it was Brock who had asked me the question made me feel obligated to speak the truth, but I felt that I could not even converse honestly with my friend while May and her brother sat there listening. I wanted so very badly to finally find someone to confide in; I'd been keeping all my feeling inside for so long while I'd been alone.

Brock had always been there for me when I was upset. He was like a brother to me. When we journeyed together he'd help me when I was down, and when I had problems, he'd be right there solving them. Because his age was higher than everyone elses, we always sought him for help considering he must have had more experience in life. But perhaps those times are long past. I was now an independent young woman, so wouldn't I be capable of taking care of myself? May probably needed his help now. I bet he would have chosen to be her brother instead since she'd replaced me. Or maybe he was even Max's older brother, giving the boy tips on 'how to score with a girl,' not that his advice would be very helpful. I laughed inwardly to myself just imagining how those scenarios would play out.

Evaluating how I would answer the question Brock had shot at me, I assumed it best to play it safe. If I really believed my friends' happiness came before my own, I wouldn't want to bring them down with my negativity would I? "Yea, it's great. My sisters have gotten back and it's wonderful to be with them again."

"Do you have to battle lots of trainers for your gym? Is it hard to battle trainer after trainer and maintain a winning streak?" Max inquired, pushing his glasses up his nose. "You must be very powerful to be a gym leader."

While I appreciated being called a powerful trainer, I couldn't help but resent his comment. While it may have seemed glorious to one his age, the truth about being a gym leader wasn't so amazing. People would think that being a gym leader is an amazing thing, but deep inside, gym leaders are just like any other Pokemon trainer. They are human. They aren't superior, they're just like the rest of the world. The only difference is that they just remain where they are and let the battles come to them. Sure, they may be considered the most powerful trainer of the area, but what about those trainers that venture the world? While they are off getting more experience, us gym leaders would just be sitting around. Maybe that is the life for some who have already seen the world, but that wasn't the path I wanted. For me it was so difficult to remain at a stupid gym for so long, while others have the privilege of seeing everything.

Despite my feelings of dislike for the lifestyle, I simply smiled at the boy. There was no reason to reveal my suppressed feelings to him. "It's definitely different from being a regular Pokemon trainer. There's a lot of responsibility." I nodded. It wasn't a lie, and therefore was sufficient as an answer. "How were your travels?" I asked, changing the subject immediately. I was curious to know what misfortunes befell them, if any.

"They were great!" May squeaked before anyone could even move. Her very voice made my insides feel like they were self-destructing. "I mean, there were some hard times, but we got by. I love these boys so much." She said happily as she gestured towards Brock and Max, as if I didn't know who she was talking about. If Ash had been amongst them, I assume she would have included him. She looked so happy, and I envied her for it. I heaved a deep breath and reminded myself to be happy for her, rather than sorry for myself.

In response I simply laughed. I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to talk to her any further.

Almost as if on cue to my request of wishing May away, Ash appeared into the room, the focus on him rather than her.

"Ash!" I smiled. I began to feel uneasy once I'd spoken to him. Just saying his name… just saying one word had caused me to begin feeling nervous. I didn't quite understand why was I even behaving in such a way. I was just greeting my friend. I mean, I knew we hadn't seen each other in a long time, but it wasn't as though we hated each other or anything. We were friends. We knew and liked each other, I was merely greeting him. I used to do so every day when we were kids. So why suddenly was I feeling like my insides were working overtime, and that a breakdown might occur any second?

"Hey Misty." He smiled back, his smile as heart warming as it always had been. However, he only glanced at me for a second, before focussing on where to take a seat. And after only seconds of debate, he pulled out from under the table a chair between May and Brock. Accepting he had given a more positive response to my greeting, I began to feel less tense. As if a weight of awkwardness had been lifted, I began to feel lighter and more comfortable.

While I was still rather tense and frustrated at the whole situation, for the moment that we all were sitting there, I could feel happiness rush into my heart. If I could have just frozen the moment, erased May and Max or pretended they were a couple of people we'd accompany for a day to help, it would have been just like old times. It would have been us out to dinner. Or us finally getting some food at the Pokemon Centre after a long journey. Or just us arriving at Ash's home for a feast prepared by Ms. Ketchum… It was us, and we were together.

And suddenly, breaking my thought once again, there was that shrill noise again. The stupid ringing of a telephone broke all our attention away from each other and drew it to the source of the noise. Phones were always interrupting the best moments….

"Ash hunny!" I heard his mother call from down the hallway after the ringing had come to a halt. "Professor Oak is on the phone for you!" Realizing he must once again abandon the table, the boy sighed as he raised from the table before taking his leave.

It kind of shocked me. The Ash I knew always grew excited when he knew Professor Oak was trying to contact him. Anything to do with Pokemon, he was there. And yet there I was, witnessing the boy sigh as he reluctantly walked over to answer a phone call that could have to do with Pikachu, or a big Pokemon discovery, or- or something important! And he was sighing. I knew right then that something must have been wrong with him, unless he was a completely different person than I had remembered. Perhaps it really was my presence there that was troubling him.

"Misty?" Brock's voice entered my ears.

"Yes, Brock?" When I came to, I could see all three of them, Brock, May and Max, all just staring at me. "Is something on my face?" I questioned.

"You just zoned out, that's all." Max stated, pressing his glasses up his nose once again.

"Don't worry, Misty. I do that all the time." May giggled. "Brock always makes fun of me for it, but it's not just me, you do it too. Maybe girls just think a lot? Because I know when I zone out, I'm often in deep thought. For some reason guys think that's ditzy, but don't you think it's smart? Like, to be deep in thought means you're really analyzing something! But they just…" Blah blah blah. I didn't care. May possibly rambled more than I did in my own mind, and I wouldn't call that a good thing. I could block her out for three minutes, and then come back to find she would still be talking.

And that's exactly what I did. "-and I guess that's why I feel the way I do though." Max yawned when she concluded her theory of why she feels like she's not a ditz for zoning out. Amazing.

"That was terribly interesting." Max lied. I grinned at the boy for conveying my sentiments perfectly. I almost wanted to start laughing, but for the sake of not coming off rude, I didn't. She must have caught on to his sarcasm, for she began to defend herself.

"You're just upset because you don't have the ability to be as depthful as me." She retaliated, folding her arms over her chest.

"Oh yea sis, I envy your ability to make up words." His sister raised an eyebrow before the boy sighed. "Depthful isn't a word. Go ahead, look it up in a dictionary." I was starting to like the kid. As much as I disliked him for being May's brother, he still was pretty smart for his age. I couldn't deny that. And anyone that caused troubled feelings for May was an ally of mine.

"Oh whatever, yeah it is Max." She said waving it off.

"No, it isn't."

"Yeah it is! Like, her poem was very deep, it was depthful. Or the pool is depthful."

"Why not just say, 'her poem is very deep?'"

"That's like saying, why not say 'you can not,' rather than 'you can't.'"

"No, it's not the same."

"Yes it is!"

As Ash re-entered into the room, rather than retreating back to our table for a meal, he made his way to the doorway, throwing on his sweater. Oak must have wanted him to stop by.

"I'll see you guys in a few hours, Professor Oak wanted to speak to me about some stuff." He grunted, throwing his bag over his shoulder. I could feel my once happy spirits die down to his words. As he turned to us to wave goodbye, he paused, his eyes widening with a realization.

"Oh, May," he started, "I think you should come. It'd probably be helpful for you if you heard his advice on junk… and stuff." May brightened almost immediately at his words, raising herself up from the table. As she lifted, her chair squeaked behind her, scraping on the floor.

"Of course Ash! Professor Oak is such an inspiration! I would love to go see him!" She nodded, making her way beside the boy.

I knew right then that was I was definitely jealous of their friendship. The second May took her place beside Ash and grinned at him, I could feel myself burning up with rage and jealousy. It should have been me venturing to Oak's with Ash. That was how it always was. And now she was taking my place….

"Be good, Ash." Delia appeared from the hallway, waving to her son and his companion. "It's dark out, so you two should be careful. However I'm sure with two of you, you'll be just fine." She smiled.

"Thanks mom, but when has there ever been trouble around here?" Ash said. Delia shrugged as she smiled at her son.

"Thanks Mrs. Ketchum!" The brunette turned to us, her smile as big as ever. "See you in a few!" She waved, "Max, be good."

"Yes mom." The boy rolled his eyes, which May returned.

As Ash and May exited the home, the door slammed behind them. The sound of it hitting into the door frame was the last repeating sound in my head, before I could feel myself ready to explode.

* * *

Fin! Thank you so much for reading! Seems kinda rushed to me… Oh wellz, I tried :P Chapter four will hopefully be up soon. In the meantime, please REVIEW!


	4. Cooling Down

****

OBSTRUCTION

**Chapter Four: **Cooling down

By: Marisa

Hello all my faithful readers. I'm glad to say that I am bringing you another chapter update! I hope you will enjoy it!

Sorry for the delay about this one… I'm not really one for updating stories like crazy, but I'm trying pretty hard here to keep this story updated… just because of you guys. With this chapter, I kind of just wrote and wrote… it's longer than my others, so I hope that makes you happy.

I'm really happy about the reviews for my last chapter.. I got way more than I expected, and I really appreciate it. And after 3 chapters, I'm almost at 900 hits.. Wow. That's like a record for me. Honestly, this is like my second semi-successful story out of many… So I'm really happy I'm finally reaching people with my stories. And I owe it all to all of you! So thanks so much for reading, and please continue reading and reviewing. It would make me very happy.

Oh, and for all you Misty fans, I just heard from my sources that Misty is going to be in an upcoming episode of Pokemon or something. Great news, isn't it? Although, it would be better if she could stay for good. Maybe then I'd consider watching again. :\

And as always, please Read & **REVIEW!**

Anyway, now on with the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, or anything associated in creating the franchise.

* * *

_Last time: Ash, Brock, May and Max came home earlier than expected! Walking in on Misty having dinner Mrs. Ketchum, they are were pleasantly surprised to see her. However, because Ash was tending to other things, Misty felt somewhat put off. Nervously greeting him, she calmed down he greeted her back happily. Unfortunately, her happy feeling couldn't last for long. Soon enough, the telephone began to ring. Professor Oak ask for Ash to come to his lab. Agreeing to go, Ash apologised for leaving so abruptly. Upon stepping out the door, her did a one-eighty to ask May to accompany him. Feeling a strong frustration at the situation, Misty sunk back into her bad mood._

* * *

Loneliness. It must be one of the worst feelings known to man-kind. To be singled out, to be on your own, and to be with nothing or no one to support you. To be in your own box with everyone surrounding, but no one with you. Or to be the one outside of the box everyone is in. It's almost amazing how sad someone can become without a shoulder to cry on or with no one to relate to.

It hurts to feel as though you are isolated from the one group you devoted yourself to… to be isolated from what you love… and to be isolated from your own friends, because as time had gone by, you weren't part of their group anymore.

Time is a painful thing to deal with. It brings change, and change is something that can leave people feeling happier or bring sadness. It can lead people to new friends, or leave friends behind. It can heal you and make you forget, or it can make others forget you. It can help you move on, or it can leave you to suffer. Time can change everything and everyone around you, leaving you foreign to your own friends.

The way things had changed, I felt as though any routine or assumptions I had formed with the people I knew and things we did were totally destroyed.

I was alone.

Ash and Brock always were like family to me, and they always would be. It was questionable though, whether or not they still felt that way about me. The way it appeared was that they had moved on with their lives, made knew friends, grown up during their journeys, and became different more mature people. I wondered if to them, I was just that travelling companion they'd had in the past.

It was a moment of silence after the door closed before I rose up out of the table.

"I'm feeling really tired… I travelled a long way to get here. I think I should go take a rest." I needed to get away and get to where I belonged… where I felt most comfortable, and yet where I hated to be…. Alone.

Quickly raising up from the table, I began walking to the guest room which was situated near the end of the hallway. Unfortunately, on my march towards my destination, I was abruptly stopped mid-step by a hand that had grabbed on to my wrist. It was loose, but it was strong enough to tug me backwards. Turning my head around ninety degrees to see the culprit, I was not shocked to find that it was Brock who had drawn me in from my walk.

"What's wrong?" I asked the boy, jerking my wrist out of his hold on it.

"Are you alright, Misty?" The boy asked, examining me. His eyes made me feel very uncomfortable as they swept over me, so I quickly looked in the other direction towards Max. He was merely glancing up at me in curiosity.

"You look very pale." He commented.

"Well, I am pale anyway," I snapped. "And did I not just say I was tired? Obviously I know I'm not feeling my best, that's why I want to sleep…" Perhaps what I had said had come off rude, but I had never been the nicest person in the world.

"I can make you tea if you'd like." Brock suggested. His tea was really superb and I did want it. But I would have to sacrifice drinking it in order to get some rest. I wasn't really up to being interrogated by the duo.

"No, it's okay. But thanks." I responded politely before feeling their eyes on me fall back to each other. Taking this chance to take my leave, I merely nodded to the two before heading down the hall.

Finding the guest room was an easy task seeing as how I knew this house like the back of my hand. As I marched into it, I felt a wave of relief rush over me. Closing the door behind me, I felt secure once I found myself in the room alone with no one left to interrogate me.

I hadn't lied to the boys about being tired; I could pass out on the bed at any second. However the real reason for wanting to get away was the fact that I wanted to allow my emotions to cool down. Since May and Ash had departed together, my anger had been skyrocketing up. I didn't want to explode on my friend who I hadn't seen in so long and a boy that was accompanying him.

Sitting myself on the bed, I could feel my weight sink into the soft mattress. I rubbed my hands over the sheets underneath them. The fabric felt like silk running through my fingers. I felt a huge urge to sleep at that point just knowing that such a welcoming bed lay under me, but at the same time, I didn't want to sleep. I felt as though I had too much to think about. Too many things had occurred within the past few hours. I needed to analyze the information given to me and make decisions.

Maybe May was right. I did like to over-analyze things.

Laying myself on my back, I allowed my head to fall softly on the pillow. Pulling my legs to my chest, I removed the blankets from under me, before replacing them over my body.

Only hours ago I had wanted so badly to get out of the hot air and into the cool house, and now I was welcoming the warmth the sheets brought to my body. Relaxing into the bed, I began to feel better and calmer. If I could get to sleep, perhaps when I woke everything would be okay. Perhaps my anger would have faded and I could carry pleasant conversations with Ash and Brock, maybe even May.

The calmer I allowed myself to become, the quicker I began to feel drowsy. It wasn't long before I found myself having a hard time just keeping my eyes open.

I must have fallen asleep rather quickly, because before I knew it, I felt as though something was waking me up from a light nap.

"Oh, she _is_ already in bed… She really must not be feeling well."

My eyes fluttered open, my senses returning back to me as I regained consciousness. I lifted slowly from my laying position to view the door. In the door frame stood Brock and Max, carrying trays… or something similar in shape.

"Are you awake, Misty?" I heard the little boy squeak out, pushing the door open further.

"I am now." I yawned irritably, fully pushing myself up into a sitting position. "Is something wrong?"

After assuring them I was awake, they marched into the room, laying a tray on a bedside table to my left. I peered over at it to see that a teacup and saucer sat on it. I felt my irritated mood melt into happiness as soon as I saw the drink.

"I made you some tea." Brock stated, taking a seat at the end of my bed.

"I helped." Max piped in.

"Yes, he did." Brock paused. "We thought it would make you feel better." His words made me smile. A real smile. It was one of the first genuine smiles I'd worn in a while.

Brock always made Ash and I tea when one of us were upset. He knew it helped make me feel better, however Ash always claimed he didn't like it. I couldn't see how someone could not enjoy the tea. But it was possibly the action of it all that seemed so heart warming. After all these years, Brock still could remember what to do when I was sad.

I could feel hope rising in myself… maybe it wasn't too late to rekindle my friendships. Brock was showing me that time hadn't totally destroyed our friendship and that he would still make an effort to make me feel better.

"Thank you… so much, Brock." I removed myself from the warmth of my bed, and crawled along the mattress toward Brock. Pulling him into a hug, I could feel real happiness inside of myself. When I let him go, I turned to Max. Patting him on the head, I thanked him as well. "Thank you too, Max." The boy squirmed under my touch.

"I'm not so small that I'm like a pet. Patting my head is disrespectful!" The boy's behaviour made me laugh. "So, are you going to tell us what's wrong now?"

"What?" I asked, my irritation rising up once more as I relaxed back into the mattress, waiting for the tea to cool so that I could drink it.

"Misty… we're not stupid." Brock explained. "Well, at least I'm not." I heard Max laugh at this, and had I not been so resistant about talking to them, I may have laughed as well. "I know you're upset."

"No, Brock, I'm just feeling tired and stuff. I told you that."

Max looked as though he wanted to respond to what I had said, but instead just shut his mouth and observed.

"Well, if you're sure…" Brock verified. I nodded my head, reaching my hands out for my tea, to which I received a gasp from Max.

"Careful Misty! It's still hot!" He said quickly. His concern amused me.

"Don't worry, I can handle hot drinks." I assured him as I lifted the cup into my hand. Taking a sip, I could feel my tongue sting from the heat. Okay, it was still _really_ hot. But I refrained from making a face. Putting the glass down, I decided to let it cool more. "Well, I'm going back to sleep. What time is it?" Max looked down to his wrist, a little watch from what could have been a cereal box wrapped around it.

"It's only 9:00 PM. Are you sure you want to go to sleep now?"

"Shouldn't _you_ be going to bed now?" I laughed, however he didn't find it very funny. "Well I'm pretty tired, so yea. Good night." I responded, flopping back down onto the bed, pulling the sheets over me once more. I rolled onto my side, my back facing them. They took my hint that I wanted them to leave, and they exited silently. I sighed, feeling the comfort of being in a bed, relaxing, and being alone.

Inside, I was beginning to feel very content. I felt as though maybe I had been worrying too much, thinking too much, and _over-analyzing _everything. Brock had proven to me that I had not gone forgotten in his mind. He had remembered the signs of when I was upset, what helped me feel better, and…

I should have known. Brock must have known I was upset, for he kept asking what was wrong. It shows how well he knew me, however I guess that meant I hadn't changed a bit.

I still had the same habits, I still acted the same way, and I still was not over my departure from my favourite group. It was rather pathetic actually, that I still always thought of the days when I was together with the group, and that I was _still_ saddened by it. It had been years, and yet I was still living in the past. I was like that crazy ex-girlfriend that still was angry at their ex-boyfriend years after the break up because she hadn't moved on. It was because I hadn't changed. I hadn't gotten over it.

I still held onto my past. I still held onto the hopes that one day I would be travelling alongside Ash and Brock again.

How pathetic was I, that I couldn't even move on with my life like Ash and Brock had? That deep inside I was still sad about something that happened so long ago…

Finally drifting out of my thoughts, and into sleep, I found myself having a strange dream.

_I recognised immediately where I was, since I was so familiar with the building. Although, my position in the building was slightly shocking, for I was held within a cage - a dangling cage. I was hanging from the ceiling of the Cerulean City Gym. Below me was a pool of water that my sisters often performed in, or that I often held battles over. However, even though I was dangling above a very deep pool of water, I was not afraid._

_I could hear people. There was many people all applauding. Looking to the stands of the gym, I could see a full house of people, clapping and hollering as though an amazing act was going on below me, even though there was nothing._

"_Misty!" I could hear the voice of someone very familiar, and turning my head immediately to where the highest diving board stood, I saw Ash calling to me, as well as Brock and Pikachu beside him. "You have to jump!" I blinked, processing what he was telling me. He wanted me to jump into the water._

"_Why?" I asked in pure curiosity, my voice echoing through the gym._

"_Do it Misty! You have to!" I moved to one side of the cage, and the whole thing began tipping with my weight. I clamped my hands onto the cool metal bars, and just peered down to Ash and Brock. "Jump out of it!" I couldn't speak, though I didn't really have much to say. I merely viewed them._

_I couldn't have jumped out of the cage even I had wanted to though, there wasn't any door to escape from…. I looked uncaringly for an exit, but could not find one._

_Only then did I realize that the cage was raising up into the ceiling._

_The sudden movement frightened me, and as I looked down to Ash and Brock, I could see May and Max approaching them form the entrance to the diving board._

"_Jump!" Brock hollered up to me._

_In many dreams, areas are created in your mind that don't actually exist. This was the case, for I was being lifted into a storage compartment in the ceiling that was never built there in the first place. _

_Once I was securely brought up into the imaginary room, I had the chance to exit from my prison. I escaped the cage, and took notice to a staircase to the change room._

_Now in a rush, I flew down the stairs, noticing no one was anywhere to be seen. When a show was going on, usually my sisters were rushing around back in the change room, but alas, there was no one. And now that I was observing everything, I couldn't hear anything anymore either. I knew the route to make it to the highest diving board, so I quickly made my way there since that's where I'd spotted Ash._

_Entering the place where my sisters usually began their show before diving into the deep pool, I turned my head to see no one. Not Ash, Brock, May, or Max. Looking to the audience, there was also no one._

_To add to everything disappearing, I peered down to the tank to see that all the water had been drained. Not only were there no people - there was no water._

I could feel myself regain consciousness very quickly after this dream, and awoke to find myself laying the same way I fell asleep. Rising up from the bed, I saw my tea still at my side and the room as I left it. It took me a moment to recall that I was in the Ketchum residence and not my own house.

Reaching out to take a sip of my tea, it was much colder than when I had gone to sleep, but at the same time, it wasn't very cold at all. I must have not been asleep very long.

Deciding that I wasn't tired anymore, I decided to see what time it was. Unfortunately, there wasn't a clock in the room. But I remembered instantly that there was a clock embedded in the stove in the kitchen.

Rising up from the bed and deciding to take my tea with me, I made my way out of the room.

The first thing I noticed was that all the lights were still on. This lead me to believe that everyone _was_ still awake. I wondered if May and Ash had returned yet.

As I entered into the living room/kitchen area, I saw Brock and Max seated on a couch in front of a television. They noticed I entered the room immediately, as their heads snapped back at the sound of me trotting down the hall.

"You're awake!" Max noted.

"I wanted to warm up my tea." I thought up quickly, with the idea just now coming to my mind. Walking towards the kitchen, I noticed a kettle boiling. Brock must have been making tea for him and Max.

Making my way towards the microwave, I sat my cup of tea in it and set the timer for 30 seconds.

"Are you feeling better, Misty?" Brock inquired, raising up from the couch. "Do you need anything?" I shook my head.

"No, I'm okay. I feel better." I answered truthfully.

"That's great." Brock said, before making his way towards me and then making himself some tea with the water he was boiling.

I smiled. Standing in that kitchen watching Brock cook really made me feel nostalgic. All of a sudden it truly was a though all our old times were coming back to me.

At this point, I began to feel as though all my worries were for nothing. Perhaps I had been overreacting and everything _would_ be okay. Brock had somehow managed to make me feel better and even Max I was beginning to like. I never disliked him, but I merely rejected him from myself without knowing him. But the boy was kind, and I liked him. Perhaps, judging from my new liking of Max, I could even grow to like May.

Everything would be alright, right?

"Do you want to watch TV with us, Misty?" Max called from the couch. Brock looked to me to see my response, and I nodded.

"That sounds good." I replied.

* * *

Whoot. I hope this chapter satisfies you. Believe me though, while this chapter has more of a happy mood, the rest of the chapters probably won't. But regardless, I hope you will all read the next chapter!

Oh, and about that dream… that idea actually came to me when I was falling asleep, haha. It probably has a different meaning than you think, yet it has a real meaning. But the dream itself probably won't have an impact on the story just to get that clear. Probably at the end of the story I'll bother explaining it though.


	5. Recreating Scenarios

**Obstruction**

**Chapter Five: **Recreating scenarios

By: Marisa

Hello again everyone. I hope the big delay in chapter updates isn't making you all angry… because I know I take a long time to update, but I really don't mean to! It just sort of happens. I'll try to update faster though! Sorry!

Anyway, here's chapter five!

Please **read **and **REVIEW!**

Disclaimer: Don't own Pokemon.

* * *

_Last time: With Ash and May out of the house, Misty was stuck with Brock and Max. Choosing to not be interrogated by them, she retreated to her room. Briefly falling asleep, she was quickly woken by the two bringing her tea. Instead of being mad, she accepted the tea and felt grateful to them for making it._

_Going back to sleep, Misty had a dream of not being able to find anyone. Waking up, she found her tea to be cooling down. Getting up to check the time, she found Brock and Max still awake watching TV. As she went to warm up her tea, she began to feel much happier and comfortable being around her old friends._

* * *

I woke from the commotion going on behind me, mixed in with the sounds of the TV. My eyes fluttered open slowly before I could really take in what was going on. The room was very dark; someone must have taken the time to turn the lamps off. The only lighting in the room was coming off the TV, which was kept at a low enough volume that it would not disturb those asleep.

I could hear voices from the kitchen area, and judging from who the voices were, I knew what must have woken me up was Ash and May reentering into the house. I'd fallen asleep laying on the couch, my feet in the direction of the kitchen. I raised myself up slightly to view what was going on since the kitchen did not have full walls to protect eyes like mine from seeing into it. I could see two figures standing there, drinking what I presumed to be tea or coffee.

Brock, Max and I had been watching TV for some time. Max had fallen asleep earlier than both Brock and I. Afterwards, the two of us chatted for a while, before I found myself dozing off. Brock must have decided to nap out on the couch himself.

Considering the fact that we'd all already passed out, I wondered what time was it that they were coming back at.

I was about to get up to go see them before I began to hear them talking in a hushed whisper. Wanting to hear what they were talking about, I laid myself back down silently. It was terrible to eavesdrop, but I was that desperate to know what they were saying.

"Seems like they're already asleep." Ash commented. I could hear him sip his drink after he spoke the words.

"Did we really take _that_ long?" May asked, before sipping her drink as well.

"Sorry for taking forever…" Ash apologised quietly. The boy pulled out a chair from the dining room table that we'd eaten at only hours ago. As he took a seat, I could hear May following suit by pulling out another chair.

"It's alright Ash, you know I don't mind." The brunette giggled. There was a moment of silence, before the girl chirped in again. "It's nice to be back home, isn't it?" It sounded like more of a question, than an actual fact. Ash merely grunted in agreement. "It must be nice to have people come all the way here for you, like Misty does." As soon as I heard my name spoken, my ear immediately perked up, my attention fully focused on the conversation. When I did not hear the boy comment on what had been said, I began to feel my spirits dampen. Didn't he have anything to say about me? Didn't he care I was there?

I began to feel that maybe I had been right all along. Maybe it was really true that Ash did never want me there. That the whole time, I had been treating my presence in his house as a gift for him when he arrived, but he probably never even cared.

Why did I even come? No one even wanted me to be there. I could already feel Ash's hate for me growing, and I was probably a bother to May. I was probably getting in her way of being with Ash.

Like she was with me.

But I guess that's giving myself too much credit. That's just me assuming that she feels threatened by mine and Ash's friendship or whatever…. But Ash doesn't even care, so why would she even feel that way?

I didn't even know where I came up with her liking Ash though. She'd never necessarily done anything to lead me to believe that. Maybe I was just paranoid… but why would I be paranoid? What does it have to do with me if they're together? Ash was just my childhood friend after all. What did I care if he showed an interest in getting to know May more?

"Well, I always love returning home." Ash said finally, breaking my attention from my thoughts and directing it straight to him. "It's great to see my mom and Professor Oak and stuff. Of course I love to see Misty too though…." I could see the boy's silhouette shrug, before May began to nod.

"Yea, I know."

"Yea." He said awkwardly.

Now I was confused, really confused. My emotions were ranging from negative to positive, my thoughts swirling around at an insane rate. I could have listed every emotion off as my emotions at the time, because there were so many different feelings I was experiencing.

Hearing Ash say that he missed me… that he loved to see me… It made me feel wanted, relieved, happy… and it gave me hope. But at the same time, half of me wouldn't allow myself to believe it was true. My hope dominated anything else I felt though. More than anything, I just wanted Ash to really care. I wanted it to be true.

I sighed quietly to myself. How pathetic was I? Why was I allowing such a little phrase to set me off so much? Just because Ash was the one saying it? I felt crazy. It was as though suddenly everything Ash said to me or about me became so important. It was as though I valued our friendship so much, that any positive remark made about us sent me through the roof, while anything negative made me feel like I wanted to die. I wanted to destroy this power he had over me, or it would literally drive me to insanity. At the rate things were going, my negative emotions would overcome the positive.

"Do you miss your home?" Ash asked, before sipping his drink. I could see the girl before him stiffen slightly, before she shrugged.

"Well, yeah… but it doesn't seem _that_ strange, because I have Max here with me." She replied.

Their conversation carried on for quite long, and it ventured into areas that I didn't care about, such as May.

As much as I wanted to sleep, their talking would not allow that. As much as I didn't care what they were talking about anymore, at the same time, I wanted to hear every word. But at the rate their conversation was going, it was going to get rather boring. I decided sleep was more important than listening to May's life story.

I figured the easiest way to get out of this situation, was to pretend to wake up. Making sure I was laying down fully--rather than position I had myself propped up in enabling better eavesdropping--I began to roll from one side onto the other. I began to grunt as if I were uncomfortable. This would explain why I was rolling around, as I was 'trying to find a comfort zone.' The two immediately stopped chatting when they realized I had 'woken up.'

I let out a sigh, before I began rubbing my eyes with bawled fists. I opened my eyes slowly, as if to generate the appearance that this would be the first time I was taking in the atmosphere. I could see both the silhouette's heads facing over to my direction, their attention right on me.

I sleepily made my way off the couch, and towards the hallway. As I marched towards it, I peered over to the two, pretending that this was the first time my eyes had seen them up and about.

"What are you guys doing up?" I asked before yawning, attempting making conversation casually.

"Just chatting." May smiled at me, giving her oh-so perfect smile. Ash nodded slowly, his eyes focussed on his drink.

My eyes immediately flew to the clock embedded in the stove. The green light illuminated off the numbers 12:47 AM. It apparently wasn't as late as I had first thought, but still late enough that they should have been getting ready for bed.

"Isn't it rather late for that?" I forced out a yawn, signifying that it was time for people to be sleeping. I don't really know why I was trying to get them to sleep, maybe I just didn't want them to talk to each other. I really was selfish….

Selfish.

"I'm not even tired." Ash spoke up. "We used to sit and talk like this all the time on our journeys, so we're used to staying up, I guess."

I nodded along as he spoke, but inside I could feel some anger rising. It's not like it isn't expected for companions on a journey to sit and talk to each other. It wasn't like they weren't allowed to sometimes stay up…. It wasn't like I never did that with Ash. So maybe that's why I hated that fact so much… because May was replacing me in every way I could think of.

"Oh." Was all I could mumble out, before I turned around. I didn't really want to have to deal with them anymore that night. "I'm going to bed anyway."

"Good night Misty!" May said cheerfully.

Every time I heard her talk, she always sounded so happy. I just wished that for once, she could have just been upset, cried, felt _pain_.

"Night." Ash and I said in unison. I turned my head back around to face him, our eyes linked for a brief moment. When we were younger, we often said things in unison. I felt like I could see that young Ash sitting before me once again. I giggled nervously, as did he, before I just waved back to both of them.

As I retreated back to my guest bedroom, I could feel my lips forming a little smile.

* * *

"_Bayleaf!" The young boy shouted out, thrusting his index finger into the air. "Hurry, use your body slam on it!" To its trainer's command, the giant creature sped towards the cat-like Pokemon. Lifting its front feet up into the air, the Bayleaf made an attempt to slam its weight into the opposing Pokemon. Unfortunately, the feline moved too quickly._

_Racing out from under it, the Zangoose made a clear getaway from the slam. _

"_Good job Zangoose!" A girl hollered from across the stadium. "Give him a taste of your claws!"_

"Why are we watching this?" I asked, yawning. I had only recently woken up, and already the TV was projecting an 'intense' Pokemon battle, or so my friends had referred to it as. Two trainers were battling it out in a stadium. Why? I don't know. It was rather funny though, my friends' expressions were similar to the faces of intense fans watching a hockey game.

I wasn't really interested in watching though. I mean, it wasn't as though I never had to battle people in a similar fashion anyway.

"I guess I'm going to win the bet." Brock said triumphantly, leaning back into the couch. Ash tightened his fists, and leaned forward even further.

"Nope, you're wrong." He cried stubbornly.

"What exactly is this bet?" I asked, sitting myself down on the arm of the couch.

"Simple," Ash said, looking up at me. "He bet that the Zangoose would win, and I bet the Bayleaf would win."

"Well it looks like that Bayleaf is having the crap kicked out of it!" Brock shouted. Ash gritted his teeth at his comment.

"Nope, this is always how it goes. The one Pokemon will start off winning, and it'll seem hopeless for the seemingly weaker Pokemon. That is until the trainer and Pokemon come to a realization that they _can_do it, and then they try their hardest, and win, because the Pokemon with better intentions always wins! And I'm positive that Bayleaf is going to win with its attitude!" I smirked at this.

"Kind of sounds like your life story right there. Except most of the time you didn't actually _win_ because of your intentions, you befriended gym leaders just so they'd give you badges."

"How would you even know, Misty?" The boy shouted from his frustration at the match. Turning around to directly face me, he continued. "You haven't even travelled with me for like _years_! You don't know what I do now!" It was actually rather humorous. He was getting all fired up over one remark I made. Although, I shouldn't really be talking.

"Yea, well I know all your stupid mistakes you made, and I know you were a little weak boy who only got his badges from conveniently helping fend off Team Rocket which _anyone _can do." I said jokingly, raising up from the couch.

"See! My same point! You haven't been with us for so long, how would you know if Team Rocket is smarter now or not?! It's annoying to be chased by them _all the time_." He said also raising up. Our positions were so similar to how we fought when we were kids, it was almost scary. We were both facing each other, standing in an aggressive position, and looking as though we were ready to bite each other's heads off.

"Hah, so now you're telling me that Team Rocket is starting to pose a threat to you? That's how I _know_ you're pathetic!"

I could see everyone's eyes focused on us from the couch, bewildered looks plastered on their faces. Max leaned into Brock, attempting a whisper, but talking loud enough for me to hear. "Are they always like this?" Brock merely nodded.

"Shut up Misty, you don't know what you're talking about." Was all that the boy could come up with. I wasn't surprised, Ash never won in our arguments.

"Why don't you just admit that you only earned your badges from befriending gym leaders!" Ash shook his head.

"At least people actually want to be my friend, and at least I _can _befriend someone! You just yell at people all the time. No one even wants to talk to someone like you!" He cried out. That was possibly one of the meanest things Ash had ever said to me. I felt shocked, was this his way of telling me how he didn't like me at all? That all I did was _yell_ at him?

I wanted to just disappear, to never be around these people again. They would all support Ash, no one would support me. Why was I even here? I would just be that girl everyone hated. The one that wouldn't leave no matter how hard you tried to get rid of her.

I bet May and Max thought I was insane. They hardly knew me, and from all the terrible stories Ash probably told them about me, they probably hated me. And it didn't help that the were witnessing me shouting at Ash. And what would Brock think of me, acting this way?

I never wanted to disappear more than I did right then.

That's how bad I was becoming. Any other time, I would fight Ash back until he stepped down. Comments like this would never annoy me. And now I was just breaking down from any insult he threw me. Maybe it was because it seemed he was telling the truth to me. I don't know. When we were younger, everything seemed like such playful insults, but it was as though now I didn't know what to think of what he said.

I didn't know what to think about me, and what was happening to me.

Before I could respond, I saw Brock jump up as well. He had often stopped our arguments in the past, and I wouldn't be surprised if he tried now.

"Zangoose won!" He shouted at us. Ash and I both diverted our attention from each other, and directed ourselves toward Brock. I was very thankful Brock had decided to interject. I didn't know if it was because he actually wanted to break that news to Ash when the boy was already angry enough as it was, or if he really just wanted to shut our fight up. Maybe both. Either way, I was thankful.

"Well it's just a lucky match anyway." Ash declared. I rolled my eyes. So were all the battles _he _won.

The boy aggressively stormed towards my direction, making his way right by me and headed for the doorway. He quickly slipped on his shoes and pulled his jacket off the hanger. Throwing his arms into it carelessly, he didn't stop to actually do it up. Without speaking a word to us, he threw open the door and hurried outside.

"Ash-" May called after him, skidding towards the door. Brock hurried after her and paused at the door way. The two of them stood there, watching the boy march off into the distance. Once he was too far, they turned around and naturally directed their eyes at me.

"Harsh…" May mumbled.

* * *

Wheeee. That's the end of chapter five. Sorry for the really long delay! I hope that you enjoyed that chapter… please feel free to leave me constructive criticism! Please **REVIEW!** It would be much appreciated. Thanks!


	6. Pathway of Pain

****

OBSTRUCTION

**Chapter Six: **Pathway of pain

By: Marisa

Hey everyone. I hope this update was quick enough. I had the majority of this chapter done actually within the week of the last one, but for some reason I didn't get around to finishing it for a while... Sorry!

I was particularly inspired at the time I wrote this, so hopefully its decent.

Also, thanks everyone so much for the reviews. I really appreciate getting them! You guys are amazing, and your compliments and constructive criticism are definitely appreciated and encouraged!

Now onto chapter six!

Please **read **and **REVIEW!** :)

* * *

_Last time: Misty had fallen asleep on the couch watching TV, and awoke to Ash and May re-entering the house. Eavesdropping on their conversation, she heard Ash admit to missing her. Hearing what she wanted, she decided to go back to bed._

_In the morning, everyone was gathered around the TV watching a Pokemon battle. Ash explained he always had faith in the weaker Pokemon and knew they had it in them to win. Misty replied by saying Ash only ever won his battles though luck. This led to a big argument and Ash storming out of the house._

* * *

Have you ever felt as though you were all alone?

I'm not talking about when you do something alone, when you decide to live by yourself, or when you're left alone at home when your parents go out. No, not that kind of alone.

I'm talking about being _alone_. The state of being. When you're isolated from everyone and everything, and you know inside yourself that just don't belong. When you're the only one different from everyone you know and can't be accepted with them.

Even when you have friends, you know they're not the real friends. Real like the kind of friends that you know you could rely on no matter what. Sometimes you can even have many friends, but your relationships are just not real. I know throughout my journeys as a Pokemon trainer I've met so many wonderful people, and of course I cared about them. Maybe they cared about me. But did I love them?… No.

I know that sometimes I just felt as though I had no real friends. I had no one who cherishes me with all their heart. I know that Ash, Brock, heck… even Tracey were all so close to me. I loved them all so much. They were people who have been with me through my worst times and stuck by me. I could have considered them people who loved me. However, I doubt that they even cared about me to the extent I cared about them. Their hearts had moved on, and had centered other people within them.

I knew I was alone because I had nobody. Nobody who really cared. Even my own flesh and blood treated me like dirt. My sisters were only selfish and conceited… so who would expect them to like me?

Ugh… just look at me. The Misty I knew a few years ago would never say such stupid things. The Misty I knew never let such minor things affect her so much. She would never believe in irrational, moronic, and just plain stupid thoughts like these.

But here I was doing all those things. It was embarrassing. It was more than embarrassing… it was pathetic. I was ashamed with myself. And yet, as much I knew I was being pathetic and wrong with my thoughts, I still somehow believed it to be true.

Seeing Ash Ketchum so furious with me didn't help to raise my confidence on whether or not I was wrong in what I thought. He blew up on me rather quickly, and I don't recall him ever acting that way. I don't really know what's happening anymore, I just feel as though everything is falling apart.

After standing for a moment in silence, with May, Max and Brock facing me with accusing eyes, I couldn't take it anymore.

I had a lot of confusion in my head, all of it leading to the thought 'what now?' What should I have done from there? Just talk to the three people in the room as though nothing was wrong? Walk into the guest room and just sleep my problems away? Leave and never come back to the Ketchum house ever again?

"What happened?" The four of us turned our heads to see Ash's mother standing in the hallway. She was giving me a quizzical expression, and me only. What did I expect though? When Ash and I argue loudly, who else is she going to stare at?

All of us had momentarily frozen, and seeing how I wasn't going to say anything, Brock stepped in. "Just an argument." He said quietly. "I mean, you know how they always happen." The boy laughed nervously, receiving a frown from Delia.

"That was a rather loud argument. Is something wrong? Where did Ash go?" Too many questions. Too many thoughts. Too many accusing glares. What was I supposed to do? What was I supposed to say? Brock couldn't always stand up for me - it wasn't like he knew what I was thinking. Oh, if only he knew…

"Well…" I stammered. I felt rather guilty just looking at Ash's mom. I really loved the woman so much. She'd always cared for me, and treated me like a daughter. And how was I repaying her? By driving her son mad until he walks out on all his friends? I didn't know what to do. Panic?

"Do you know where he went?" She urged me to continue talking, her tone very concerned.

"I'll go look for him, Ms. Ketchum." May said reassuringly.

"No." I barked at her rather harshly. I didn't mean to be so demanding - it just sort of came out. "Delia, I'll find him." I didn't wait for a response. I didn't grab my sweater. I didn't do anything but head right for the doorway to the outdoors.

I slipped on my running shoes before I threw open the screen door and trotted down the front steps, immediately being ambushed by the freezing air. Everything was like a surreal blur. There were no clear thoughts in my mind, and I had no idea what path I was going to take. My eyes were focussed on nothing, and my attention could not be drawn to anything. I was just walking. That was all I could do. It was the only thing my brain could command, and the only task I even had control over.

As I walked for a while, I found that the fog in my thoughts was beginning to clear. I found I was finally able to start making sense of whatever had just happened, or was going to happen.

Well, not sense but, at least I could comprehend.

But now I was just pissed off.

Everyone was all so angry at me, and why? Because Ash had to be a little whiney boy who couldn't take the truth? And on top of that, it was really cold and I left without a sweater. It wasn't like I couldn't go back for it.

Why was everything just all so wrong?

I didn't want to go back to Ash's house, even if I found him. I didn't want to face everyone. I didn't want them to talk to me, ask me questions, or even think accusations about me in their heads. I didn't want to go home much either though. I just wanted to disappear.

I began to walk. And walk. And walk. My feet were like pistols slamming into the ground one after another. My heartbeat was pounding in my ears, and the only other audible sound to me other than my feet hitting down on the dirt trail.

I could feel my eyes beginning to sting as the cold air whipped me in the face. I tried to fight back my tears - I didn't know why I was crying them anyway. But the more I tried to hold them back, the more I was blinded by them. They began to roll out onto my cheeks, and I could suddenly feel myself aching.

I slowed my pace, since I noticed I had been walking very fast - too fast. I was struggling for air; my lungs collapsed as though I'd been running for a while. I only noticed until I was at a complete stop, that I was already crying a good amount. My eyes were already bloodshot, and although this sounds rather cliché, I could feel my heart beginning to hurt.

I threw my hand over my mouth as I began to sob. It was at the point where the tears were racing out of my eyes, and I had absolutely no control. Why was this happening? Why was this happening to me? Was I having a breakdown?

Let's have a recap:

All that happened was I came to Ash's house, we got in an argument, and I went to go see him without a sweater. Why was I crying like this? Why was I breaking down? So many questions, but I wasn't getting any answers.

This wasn't me, this wasn't Misty. What happened to Misty? What happened to Ash? What happened to anything that I once knew!

The more these thoughts came into my mind, the less control I had over my tears.

It was for a few moments that I stood in that very spot, just paused there allowing myself to cry. I didn't even know where I was, though I didn't care all that much. As I looked around though, I recognised the scenery, although how could I not? I came to Pallet Town all the time.

The only thing that was different was there was a blur of blue and black in the corner of my eye. Fixating my attention on what stood out, I realized what I was looking at was actually what I was searching for. Ash. I had to look at him for a while to actually place together the pieces that told my brain it was really him.

It took me longer to figure out he was sitting right where I first met him.

He was seated right in the place I first fished him up out of the stream… Right where I fished up him and his Pikachu. Where was Pikachu anyway? Well whatever.

New thoughts rushed to my mind like, 'Should I go see him?' 'Should I talk to him? Apologize?'

I knew I had to talk to him. I had already gone all the way there. But… how could I… What would I say?

I took a few steps forward, expecting Ash to sense me there and turn around and see me. He didn't. I must have been farther than I thought, because I continued walking forward and he still didn't look. It wasn't until I could see the details of his jacket, his hair, his skin, that he turned to see me.

He merely turned his head sideways, viewing me from the corner of his eyes. A moment passed before he recognised me, and then he immediately jumped up. This action shocked me.

"Ash," I blurted out, not wanting it to come across that I was sneaking up on him. I wanted it to seem as though I was about to yell his name before he got up. The boy darted towards me, before reaching his arms out to me. His hands gripped onto my forearms as he looked into my eyes.

"Misty, why are you crying!" He asked desperately, sounding as though he might cry himself. I opened my mouth, and allowed it to hang open before responding. This scene was rather shocking to me. It had only been maybe forty minutes to an hour ago that we were arguing and yelling at each other. And now somehow we were outside and both very far away from where we'd been, and I was crying right to his face. I was crying over nothing.

"I…" Looking into his eyes, I began to suddenly feel a shocking pain in my body. My eyes began to work overtime as they fought away tears, and I began to melt down and cry even more. I was breaking down again. The tears kept dripping from my eyes, and I couldn't stop it. It was so stupid. Nothing even happened. He looked concerned. Isn't that what I wanted? For him to show that he cared? Why was I crying?!

"Misty!" The boy cried, pulling me into a hug. He probably was as confused as I was. I mean, I yelled at him and he probably just needed time to cool off. And then I go there and follow him, and then start crying? I was a wreck.

I didn't lean into him, and I didn't pull away from him. I merely allowed him to hug me and cried. I didn't want to answer his questions anymore, and yet I felt willing and able to right then tell him everything on my mind. "Are you hurt?" He asked.

Am I hurt? Am I hurt? How could Ash even ask that? How was that even a question? I was more than hurt. I was in so much pain on the inside. But it wasn't only emotional. I was physically freezing and also starving just to boot. On top of that, I looked like I just woke up, and I felt like it too. I couldn'tt take in any information and I looked like a mess.

I was just dandy.

I merely continued to cry, just looking at the ground. I didn't want to look him in the eyes. I didn't want to look at him at all. I just wanted to disappear.

"I'm sorry…" He mumbled, looking away from me. I didn't respond, I just continued sobbing. He retracted his arms from me and stuck them into his pockets. We awkwardly stood facing each other, but didn't say anything.

The more that time went by, the less tears my eyes produced. I began to have control of my breathing and thoughts again. Things were starting to clear up; the giant blur over my mind was finally disappearing. It was only as I began to maintain control over myself that Ash began talking again.

"Why did you come out here?" He asked, still not looking at me. I finally felt comfortable looking at him as long as his eyes weren't on mine.

"To look for you." I said honestly, my voice still wavering a little. "Your mom was worried about you, so I felt as though… since I was the one that caused you to leave, I should find you." I sniffled as I finished the sentence, wiping away my now silent tears. Ash shrugged as he heaved a deep sigh.

"I would have come back, you didn't really have to come here after me."

"Well I felt bad." I said, biting my tongue after saying it. I didn't like apologizing to Ash, but lately I hadn't been acting like myself. I was doing all sorts of things that I didn't like.

"Well, it was just an argument…" he said again. Maybe he felt bad for making me cry. "We get over them all the time."

"Yea but…" I sniffed. But what? What was I going to say? 'I thought this time was different because I'm going crazy'? I simply heaved a deep breath before peering up at the sky. I wasn't going to finish that sentence.

Ash waited for me to continue on, and when I didn't, he took over. "Look, it wasn't a big deal okay? I just have a bit more stress now. You don't have to cry about it."

"Oh, so you think everything is about _you_, huh?" I blurted out bitterly. I really had to stop shouting things out, it wasn't getting me anywhere… anywhere good that is. But I carried on. "Maybe _I _have a lot of stress. Maybe you just added to it when you went crazy on me!" I cried. I hated to play the blame game, but what else was I going to do in this situation? Let Ash tell me that a simple argument between us is what made me breakdown? I was the only one that needed to know that.

"I never said it was all about me-"

"Well you're assuming I'm crying because of our argument. I just told you I came to find you because your mom wanted me to. For all you know I could be crying for something totally unrelated!" Lie.

"What else would you be crying about?" He asked curiously. I wasn't that easy to get past though. And I certainly wasn't going to let someone who didn't really care about me know inside of me.

"Is it really any of your business?" I huffed. "You talk like I don't have any problems at all. 'What else would I be crying about?' huh?! I guess my life is just perfect. I shouldn't cry at all!" The boy's expression looked pained, but more bewildered if anything.

"I didn't mean it like that-"

"How else could you mean something like that!" I bellowed at him.

"Misty, calm down!" He pleaded with me. "What has gotten into you? We used to argue all the time, but you never used to get worked up to the point where you scared me."

"Scared you?" I repeated. Those words struck a chord in my heart that hurt….

"Because this isn't you!" I could feel my eyes stinging in pain. My tears had never fully stopped, but now they were in full swing again. I didn't need Ash to remind me what I already knew. I didn't need someone else to confirm that I was on this pathway to pain. I didn't need to know that I was not coming back to my oh-so-happy life.

"Whatever." Was all I could mutter out. I wasn't calm enough to actually think up a good retaliation. I wasn't in the right state of mind anymore. I was falling back into breakdown mode.

* * *

Whooot. That's the end of this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Sorry for the delay! Please **review** if you are liking the story! And thank you so much for reading!


	7. Confrontation

**OBSTRUCTION**

**Chapter Seven: **Confrontations

By: Marisa

Aloha everybody. Once again, I know my updates are really, really slow, and I really am sorry. I don't mean to take so long… it's just that this was kind of a struggle to write. But hopefully I can really get the story going somewhere after this.

This chapter is more of a little gift to all of you who review!

Once again, thank you all so much for your reviews.

And as always…

Please **read **and **REVIEW!** :D

_Last time: After an argument, Misty took off after Ash to find where he had run off to. Reliving her thoughts of loneliness on her search, she began to breakdown crying. Finally coming across the boy she was looking for, she was surprised by his reaction. Alerted by her crying, Ash quickly jumped up to console her. Explaining he wasn't angry at all, he thought that would be the end of it. Misty however took his words the wrong way and continued the argument._

"Okay then." I heaved in a deep breath, trying to calm down my raging thoughts. I wasn't crying heavily anymore. My cheeks were still damp from the last run of tears, but my eyes were no longer producing those little droplets of pain. I was simply trying to fight back the urge to scream and yell; the only emotion powering me now was anger. "You can go talk to your mother yourself. I'm going home. I shouldn't even have-"

"Misty, wait." Ash called out quickly.

"No." I said flatly, turning away from him. "I come out here to do a nice thing: get you for your mom, see how you're doing, _apologize…_"

"Misty-" The boy interrupted desperately.

"No!" I cried out once more, this time more ferociously. I could see the boy stumble in my direction, though he was probably unsure whether or not to approach me. I threw my arms out threateningly, crying out at him. "Leave me alone Ash Ketchum." The boy bit his lip, stopping dead in his tracks.

"Misty-"

"Ash," I said firmly as I tightened my fists. "I don't think we should have anything to do with each other anymore, look what's happened now." Those words echoed continuously inside myself, the sting from them spreading throughout my body as though they were poison. How could I turn myself away from my childhood friend?

Rather than wearing the frightened expression he had on moments ago, Ash switched to an angered expression.

"Stop being so dramatic!" He cried. "You're making such a big deal out of one small argument. I hardly did anything to make you so pissed off! What's your problem?" Ash's usage of the phrase 'pissed off' almost wanted to make me laugh. He had never been a one to curse often or used any words that were considered vulgar. But maybe it was because he was just older now and 'expanding his vocabulary.' Once again, this proved how little I knew him anymore_…._

"What's my problem?" I laughed coldly, trying to expose my real emotions as little as possible. "Isn't that obvious? I just said it."

"If you're talking about me…" The boy looked to his side uneasily. His expression should have made me feel saddened, as I _was_ bringing him pain. Or at least, it was coming across that way. However, I was feeling much better than I was minutes ago. It was as though suddenly _I _had all the power. Suddenly, I was the one who had control of Ash's emotions, and not the other way around_…_ And I was loving it. "Can't we just forget about all of this?" He pleaded, sounding more tired than anything.

"It isn't just something you can forget." I responded.

"How isn't it! It was just an argument! We used to get over them all the time!" I gritted my teeth at him.

"This isn't about the argument!" I snapped. He immediately quieted down, acting as though he'd offended me terribly. "Did you ever stop to think, maybe… you never even… when I… before when we… ugh never mind." I sighed. Ash looked completely distressed. He would not understand my emotions. He would not understand how much I disliked this change between us. How things between us were nothing like they were in our childhood, and how much I hated it. He wouldn't understand how it felt to be unwanted, to not be cared about and ignored_…_. Everything was great for him. Every step he took led him to his dream: to be a Pokemon master. And then unfortunately, this obstruction in the road, Misty, comes to try and come back into his life. His past was trying to ruin it all for him. Ash was living in the future, he was heading somewhere great_…_ And I had to come and screw it all up. Just like I always did. Ash wasn't 10 years old anymore, and neither was I. We were leading different lives than before. Why had I been so stupid? Why did I ever think we were meant to… well… why did I even come see him?!

Ash never once acted happy to see me. He never wanted me there.

"You're right." I sighed. "Forget it. Just… forget it." I hung my head, before completely turning and retreating back to the Ketchum household to regain my things. I had to leave.

The first few steps I took, I could hear Ash behind me calling out my name. It was faint, as his emotions were probably still mixed up, and he wasn't sure whether or not to come after me. But the further I walked, the louder his cries became.

"Misty!"

One after another, my feet slammed into the ground. My mind was beginning to fog up again; keeping my walking steady my only main focus. It was like when you're about to pass out, and your hearing slowly fades until you can hear nothing, and blotches of stars cloud your vision, until you can see nothing.

Except I wasn't about to pass out. My mind was just fogged up, and my focus had been dulled until I had no real thoughts except to walk.

As soon as a hand clamped onto my wrist though, my senses flashed back to me. It was like a hand had pulled me up from a dark well, and I was entering back into the sunlight.

Recollecting my thoughts, I cocked my head back slowly to view the culprit of grabbing my wrist. Expectantly, Ash was standing behind me, now holding my hand in his own. I turned fully around the face him, feeling my heartbeat once again rise up into my throat.

Half of me wanted to turn and run. I knew Ash was the reason I was unstable. He was the reason I felt emotionally hurt, and the reason I could no longer function properly. I had finally accepted it.

And yet, I wanted to talk to him. I wanted everything to be fine between us. Maybe that was why I came in the first place. That was why I always came. I just wanted to fix everything. I wanted everything to be like before.

I peered into his eyes at a loss for words. He seemed to have not prepared anything to tell me in the time he'd walked or run to me - I'm not really sure how fast I was walking, and for how long.

"Misty…" That was getting annoying. He was repeating my name far too often, like he had nothing else to say to me. "I just…" My ears perked up, my eyes examining him as if I was searching for flaws. He sighed. "I didn't want to have to watch you walk away again." He muttered out the last part, but it was impossible for me not to catch it. I wasn't exactly sure how I should interpret what he'd said though. I had been walking away from him a lot today, and perhaps he was getting irritated with arguing with my backside.

Now would have been the appropriate time to apologise, seeing as how we were having what I'd call an "emotional moment." I had begun to storm away, and in a fit of desperation, Ash had come after me. We were face to face, and he was anticipating me to say _something._ However, I did not want to say sorry. I hadn't really done anything wrong. He had done all of this to me. This was all his fault.

The more I recited these thoughts in my head, the more my urge to run was growing. I slowly dropped Ash's hand from mine, and prepared to turn and begin walking again.

"Look, I'm _sorry _about… everything, I guess. But you wouldn't _understand_…" Ash concluded, averting his gaze from mine now.

"Excuse me?"

"You don't know how hard things are for me right now." I stared wide-eyed at the boy, before releasing a rather loud laugh. He looked at me with curious eyes, as if asking to enlighten him on what was so funny.

"You think things are hard for _you_?" Ash gritted his teeth as he studied my mocking face.

"You know what, Misty?" He spat. I raised my eyebrows, encouraging him to continue. I must have hit soft spot. Just as he was opening himself to me, I had stabbed him where it hurt with my remarks, and now he looked furious. As his fists tightened, he looked away from me. "Not everything is about _you_ okay?! The world does _not _revolve around _you_! You have problems? Great, so does everyone else."

I laughed. People have problems, sure. But are their problems being hated by your best friends? Are their problems being hated by anyone and everyone you cared about? Are their problems being totally _alone_?

"It's not funny!" He cried. This was becoming more and more amusing. Maybe I was just becoming more and more cruel with all the pain I'd been taking in, but I only found Ash's attempts to argue with me to be humorous. And yet for some reason, my eyes were stinging with tears. "We shouldn't be like this, you're right. But you know what, half of me is glad we are. Now I can finally move on with my life and just…"

"Just what?" I said bitterly, my laughter ending.

"Take our advice: forget about it." The boy began to walk forwards in my direction, but rather than approach me, he walked right by me, and continued to march on to his home I presumed.

I stood in silence, as the sound of his sneakers crunching the leaves and branches beneath them faded away.

By now my smile was wiped away, and my whole face was scrunched up as I tried to fight my urge to cry away.

I was alone again.

* * *

Thank you soo much everyone for reading this chapter. Also thanks so much for staying with me through my slow chapter updates. I hope you liked this chapter… although it is rather short. The next one will hopefully be better though! I hope I can find my way around this writer's block… anyway, thanks for your support.. And please **REVIEW!**

:D


	8. Breach of Defences

**OBSTRUCTION**

**Chapter Eight: **Breach of Defences

By: Marisa

Hey everyone! I hope you're all doing well. I'm not really feeling so great myself, since things have been going badly, but that is what mostly what inspired this chapter. So hopefully it's good with lots of emotion put it. :) At least some good can come of my current feelings ahah.

And jeez louis, you're all so nice! Each and every one of your reviews are so kind and encouraging. You really have no idea how much it means to me that all of you are (I think) enjoying my story! I've never really had a story that is becoming as successful as this one… and of course it wouldn't be possible without you guys. So thank you!

Hope this wait wasn't too long for you. ;)

And as always…

Please **read **and **REVIEW!** :)

"_Every living thing dies alone."_

_-Donnie Darko_

_Last time: Misty and Ash continued to argue. He found her to be acting overly dramatic and condescending, and she concluded Ash just could never understand. Rather than finally resolving the issue as Ash had wished, he merely stated he would move on with his life and walked away._

There are always times in your life when you somehow become a human volcano, bottling up all your little--and sometimes big problems until you erupt. You become a giant snowball speeding down a rocky mountain, unable to stop. You become that little crack in the car's windshield that only continues to spread the more the car travels on… Okay, maybe not everyone has times like these, but you know what I mean.

So many little things, so many little problems. It's when they're all thrown at you at once as though you're going through an asteroid field and you have no first aid kits that you erupt. You have no help. You have no one to listen to your venting, so you silently collapse inside yourself, screaming for help. But no one can hear you. No one can see you suffering. No one.

There's always a time in your life when you deny the truth. No matter how many facts are provided to convince you otherwise, no matter how obvious it is, you just don't believe it. There are times when the answer is right in front of your very eyes, but you refuse to acknowledge it. You're in disbelief, you're unable to accept it, you just… you don't _understand_.

Sometimes bad things happen to good people. I'd never really done anything wrong, and yet somehow I found myself to be one of the unlucky souls who were pressed through a painful life--at least the older I became. Somehow, I'd grown into a state of pain and loneliness. But _why me?_ I felt that sometimes people were even aware that my mind was going down the drain, and yet I was never offered help. They just accepted it, they just moved on. They just didn't _understand_.

Loneliness had swallowed my entire being, or so it seemed. I was standing alone, I felt alone, and I lived and _breathed _loneliness. I had no true friends to reach out to. I had no ears around me to listen. I had nothing.

I absolutely hated being the only one with nothing. I hated being the only one who had no one. I hated watching people as they laughed in the comfort of their safety, having their best friend beside them. I hated seeing people with friends, boyfriends, and _best friends_.

Many people have best friends. They have those one or two people who they can trust their life to. They have those people who they share their life's secrets to, and wouldn't even think of spilling the others' thoughts. Best friends just understand each other. With just a look to the person, they can read into your thoughts. With just a few words, they can calm you down in an instant. With just a loving embrace, they can make you feel as though you are truly wanted and truly loved. They can really leave an impact on your life, and you on theirs.

I didn't have anyone like that.

No one could ever really see so deep inside of me that they knew my feelings just by looking at my face. Even when I would purposely try to make people aware that I was feeling down, they would rarely notice that something was wrong. No one would try to help me, or care enough about me to focus their attention on me. There would be the few times when someone _would _ask how I was, but then I resorted to my perfected reflex. I would whip out the lying card. You know, the "I'm okay, I swear" line. And of course, people would buy it. They would believe me and leave me to myself as I subconsciously screamed for help. They would not press on, simply because, they didn't really care enough to waste their energy on me.

No one would waste their time on me.

I was so jealous of those people who had friends they could trust their secrets to. Friends that really _cared_ about them. Those people had everything they really needed to get through life - other than food and water of course.

They had someone who loved them.

I never wanted to believe that I actually had no one. As pessimistic as I had become, inside of myself, I knew I really wanted someone to listen to me. I wanted someone to hear me and help me with my problems. I wanted someone to help me ease this painful load. I wanted someone to _love _me.

The worst part of it all though, was that I had once had all that. I _had _had someone who loved me. I had Ash, and Brock. My best friends. And I lost them. I blew it. I screwed up my "perfect life."

As I stood by myself in the forest-like area, facing where Ash had been a little over ten minutes ago, I let my tears run freely down my cheeks. I lifted my head to view the sky above me to see flocks of Pidgeys and Pidgeottos whistling happily as they soared past the clouds. I could hear ratatas--or whatever land Pokemon they might have been--all hopping through the dead leaves on the ground. I could hear the disgusting bug Pokemon making their little bug noises in the distance.

Life was still happening. People and Pokemon were still living. Nothing had stopped.

"The world doesn't stop for me." I sobbed. My sister had said this once to me before. However, it was only then that it started to make sense.

No matter how sad I was, everyone's main priority was always themselves. Was it selfish for me to think otherwise? All I had been worrying about was myself. I had been feeling sorry for myself. I had been ignoring everyone else, hadn't I?

I studied the area for a moment, before finding a large rock to my side. Taking a seat on it, I almost immediately threw my face into my palms.

'_I am a terrible person.'_

While my heart had begun to ache more and my feelings had dipped even lower than before, my crying was coming a halt once again.

I was born alone.

I didn't need anyone. No. I didn't.

_There's always a time in your life when you deny the truth. _

I had to depend on myself. I only had me, and what else was I supposed to do? Ash would not take me back as a friend now. He had May.

Just thinking that name gave me a toxic feeling inside myself, and I quickly tried to reject her image from my mind. But I could not shake her from my thoughts. May. Why did May have the privilege of having someone to rely on? Why did she have the privilege of having Ash, Brock, _and _Max's ears?

Why not me?

I slapped my palms into my cheeks. I had to rely on myself. Rely on myself.

Rely on myself.

I didn't need anyone. I could be happy by myself. I had to make myself happy. And I knew what I had to do first.

"Misty?" Brock called out worriedly, as he raised up from the kitchen table to view the doorway. I marched into the house, brushing off my legs. There wasn't anything on them, but I had wanted to appear as though I was doing something. I wanted to keep my mind focussed on something at all times.

"Hi, Brock." I smiled, or at least attempted to. I could see Max seated at the table next to where Brock had just been. His eyes quickly connected with mine in the split second I took to recognize him. He mouthed my name subtly, but did not speak a word.

I marched into the home, mustering as much confidence as I could. I approached Brock, still holding my 'smile.' I figured people wouldn't help me when I was sad, so I wouldn't let them know I was sad. I wouldn't let them know they had power over me. I wanted to make a point that I had power over myself. I didn't want anyone.

"Where were you? What happened?" He asked. I paused, before remembering the whole reason I had left was to search and find Ash Ketchum. Coming back without him must not have been a good sign- wait, Ash's shoes were at the door…

"Did Ash come back?" I asked, ignoring Brock's previous questions.

"He's in his room. He went straight to it. Did you guys get in another fight?" I felt rather squirmish as my childhood friend interrogated me, but I complied by shrugging. He knew that must have meant we had had a fight, but I was sure he'd gathered that the moment Ash had apparently stormed to his room. "Why?"

"Why don't you ask him?" I replied coldly.

"Why are you acting like this!" The young man demanded, looking as though he wanted to grab me and shake me until I replied to his questions properly. It looked as though I wasn't the only getting overemotional around here.

"What?" I asked in a monotonous voice. "I told you to ask him." The boy nodded aggressively, before grabbing my wrist in his hand.

"Okay, then you're coming as well. I want you two to stop being so childish and just _sort this out_!" I jumped when he'd grabbed me so aggressively, but I hadn't resisted when he dragged me down the hall. Maybe it was because I knew my strength couldn't match his, or perhaps it was just because I didn't care if I had to see Ash or not. Why would I care?

I laughed inwardly as I thought of how loony Max must have thought we all were, especially me. He hardly knew me, and the impression I was creating for myself wasn't exactly working to my favour. But Ash wasn't really acting much better than I was. Perhaps Max would think this was normal behaviour, and grow up to be a nut job himself? I found it sick how I was finding that very thought humorous, but I digress.

Brock tapped Ash's door with his knuckles once, before pushing it open in a fit of anger. Inside the room, Ash was on his back as he laid spread across the mattress of his bed, whilst May sat on her knees beside him. She was catering to him or something - trying to make him feel better. She was there, listening to him, wasn't she?

I could feel my volcano-side ready to explode as I viewed the scene before me.

_People who they share their life's secrets to, and wouldn't even think of spilling the others' thoughts. Best friends just understand each other._

Ash's eyes darted to the door, and spotted me right away. His face twisted from anger and probably several other emotions, but before I had time to examine him, the brunette in front of him whirled to see me. May's eyes linked with mine the moment she turned her head around, and the moment she turned her head around, was the moment I ripped my wrist from Brock's hold. I darted right into my oh-so-familiar guest room across the hall.

The door to the guest room slammed behind me as I continued my usual pattern and threw myself on the bed as soon as I entered. My emotions were once again going out of control.

I had never in my life had so little control over myself. My emotions flew up and down in bigger hills than a roller coaster. I had also never in my life disliked someone so much as I did now. I could feel anger and jealousy seething through my body.

"But _why!?_" I cried out into the pillow that was now stuffed in my face.

Why. Why. Why! I was jealous over what? May sitting with Ash? Why had I gotten so worked up? Because they were friends? Because they talked?

What had happened to having control over myself and not letting other people have an affect on me? What happened to my life!?

This wasn't Misty. I wasn't Misty. It was as though Misty had died.

Or that I just couldn't find her.

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Yeessss! Another chapter done. :D Hope this one was delivered quick enough for all of you. It got kind of tiring to write halfway through, but I felt as though I had to finish it for you guys. :D I have the next chapter all planned out in my head, so hopefully I can get that one done soon as well.

Annyyyway! Please review? It wouldn't kill ya would it:)


	9. Losing and Using Enemies

****

OBSTRUCTION

**Chapter Nine: **Losing and Using Enemies

By: Marisa

Sorry, sorry, sorry for the very long wait! I had exams to study for, and projects to finish… and tanning to do! Haha. Anyway, I think that explains my delay! I am once again very sorrryyyyy, but now I have all summer to update! Yayyy. :)

I feel very stressed out and angry right now, and I figured I should put the emotion to some good use, and write a chapter of this. :)

Hope you all enjoy this chapter. I tried to make it a bit longer, because I realized my chapters are rather short. And I got a lot of ideas from my reviewers that may be included in this, and future chapters! Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on the story! I kind of thought up a bit of a different direction to take this story in... hopefully it'll work out alright!

You guys are really great though. I read each and every review, and I love them all. Thanks so much everyone.

And as always…

**Read **& **REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Pokemon! (I've been forgetting to put disclaimers, oops.) Well I think we get the idea anyway. I mean, it's called FANfiction for a reason.

* * *

_Last time: Misty reflected on her feelings of hate and loneliness and succumbed more to her pain. Upon returning back to Ash's house, Brock prompted her to explain what was wrong. She she treated him with disrespect, he dragged her to speak with Ash herself. Seeing May and Ash together talking in his room, Misty was overcome with jealousy and stormed back into her own room._

* * *

I'd never heard of humans having the ability to make themselves disappear into thin air, mostly because it denied the laws of physics and only happened in comic books and fairy tales. But if that ability or super power or whatever it was actually existed, I don't think I ever wanted to gain it as much as I did since I'd been to visit Ash.

I knew as well as anyone else that I was acting irrational, and that's what was weird about the whole situation. I was fully aware of how stupid my actions looked to my "friends," and yet I didn't disagree with my behaviour. As cold I had been acting towards Ash--giving him a hard time over something he wasn't really aware of--I still didn't regret it. I knew I was right, and that everyone else just didn't understand.

But this put me in a very bad situation. I was being placed into a two-sided war - Ash and I were the captains. His team consisted of all his friends: Brock, May, Max… all of them. They would see it as Ash being the one victimized and join him instead.

My team would of course have… just me. That's right, because I didn't have any supporters in my fight. I didn't have any best friends to back me up.

I didn't have anyone.

I didn't have any magical disappearing abilities to zap me out of this battle zone. I didn't have any power to get me out and away from the Ketchum house. I had no way to get away from all the reoccurring painful emotions and problems.

I had no way to get away from the place where I was forced to fight. I had no way to get away from the place where I was forced to stand as a one-man army, fighting against two opponents. I was forced to fight against Ash, and forced to fight against myself. I didn't know which one I would lose to first, but it was only a matter of time before someone came out victorious over me.

Ash had a big advantage, and that advantage was having me right in his base. I was surrounded by people who were against me, none who were with me, and none who were neutral. Emotional wars were much more effective when you were completely barricaded from the circle of friends, rather than just being chastised by one single person. And I was being blocked off from everyone. I was alone.

The most awkward thing was _knowing _everyone was on Ash's side. When I would walk through the living room, kitchen, or wherever the majority of people were, they would wonder to themselves why I was even there. They would wonder why I was there if I didn't really get along with anyone in the house, or if I was only showing hate to the one person I came to see: Ash. I knew this must've been how they felt, because I knew these facts myself. Why was I even around if I disliked being there so much?

…I had come because I'd wanted to be with my friends. I wanted it to be like old times… that's all. However, that was so long ago. Did I really expect things to be like that again? And it hadn't been like that since I'd come, why hadn't I left yet?… but I digress.

I knew they were wishing me away from there. I knew it. They'd wish that my departure from them could be sooner, and then they could finally relax when I was gone. Because at that moment, I was keeping them on their toes. They didn't know who I'd lash out to next, and had to be aware at all times. They didn't _know _all the dangerous thoughts that would spring into my mind.

….

My thoughts turned pretty crazy there, didn't they? Was I really exaggerating my problems too much? Were they really even thinking these things or was it all in my imagination?….

It couldn't be.

"Misty?" Brock's voice echoed through the door and into my ears, his tone was rather hesitant. Maybe I was right. Maybe they couldn't relax when I was around.

The door swung open without my approval, but I didn't get up to stop it. I merely rolled onto my back so that I could view him.

How many minutes had gone by since I'd pulled myself away from the image of Ash and May together? How many minutes since I'd pulled away from Brock's grip on me? Since I'd thrown myself on this bed?… It didn't really matter. Seeing the tanned boy's face refreshed me of all those oh-so-wonderful moments right away.

"Misty…" The teen closed the door before entering my room, possibly reassuring me that Ash and May weren't coming in as well. Did he think I would care if they did? It wasn't like they couldn't tear away from each other anyway.

It took me a moment to notice that a yellow blur had entered by Brock's feet. I sat up immediately, my attention darting towards the little mouse before me. "Pikachu!" I gasped. My emotions took a quick turn when my eyes fell upon the rodent; almost like a reflex I smiled and threw my arms open. It surprised even me how welcoming I had suddenly become just after driving through such horrid thoughts. But it didn't mater how drastic the changes in my thoughts and emotions were becoming. All I knew was Pikachu was there.

"Pi-ka!" The Pokemon pounced up and into my arms, using such force that it knocked me right back into my laying position. I held the creature in an embrace, and felt myself melting as it hugged me back--or attempted to--with its little arms.

I closed my eyes as I allowed myself to feel love… or an emotion that was close to it.

As I held Pikachu to my chest, I could feel comfort, I could feel friendship, and I could feel real emotion from my beautiful, beautiful past.

I could feel my eyes beginning to tear up as I tightened my grip on the critter, but it didn't squirm away. Pikachu most have known I needed a friend then more than ever, but fully aware I may have been hurting the little guy, I knew I had to let it go.

"I missed you, Pikachu." I said softly, holding back my sobs.

"Pi-pi-pi…" I sat up slowly, loosening my grip on the mouse as I did so. I plucked it from my stomach and sat it to my right, before sighing happily as I looked the Pokemon over. It'd been a while since I'd seen it, but it was as cute as ever.

I collected myself before I turned to view Brock. It must have been over three minutes I'd spent just hugging and looking at the Pokemon, and all he'd done was stand there….

"Where has Pikachu been? I swear I haven't seen the little guy around lately…"

"He's been with Professor Oak since we came back." Brock replied. "He needed Pikachu's help in proving some point to another professor, and was using him as an example. He called Ash over that one day to show him his point as well." I nodded my head, taking in the answer.

"Why did May have to go then?" I asked, although it was a rather stupid question to ask. Most people would think, 'What was the point?' or 'Did the point Professor Oak was trying to prove come across well?' but no. I had to ask about May.

Brock didn't seem to find that fact as weird as I did however, as he responded just as rapidly as usual. "May's is a fairly new trainer. Anything to do with Pokemon, Ash wants to let her in on too. He wants to help her become a great trainer. If anything… he must feel like he is really guiding her." I laughed.

"She must not be very good if she needs guidance." Brock chuckled as he shook his head.

"Quite the contrary." He corrected. "She's grown to be a great trainer. Her and Ash are very close, and they both aid each other with everything, strengthening both their abilities." I rolled my eyes. I didn't have anything witty to respond with, so I merely flopped onto my side opposite of Brock. I glared at the wall so that I wouldn't have to look at him, and continued to lie there for minutes to come. It was becoming slightly irritating that the boy continued to stand there, even after I had turned my back to him.

"Brock?" I said irritably as I rolled once again onto my back. His eyes darted to meet mine, and we were linked for a moment as we sat in an awkward silence. He had to have come here for something, so I urged him to say something. He broke the stare before sighing and rolling his shoulders.

"You know, Misty… you can always tell me what's wrong." It was my turn to let out an agitated sigh.

"Really, have you come to interrogate me again?"

"I'm not interrogating you!" He said desperately, before sitting himself on the end of the bed. I pulled my knees to my chest so that I was not in his way. The last thing I wanted to do right now was create more enemies by acting obnoxious…. Making a bad image of myself in front of Pikachu, the one thing keeping me sane at that moment, wasn't going to help.

I rolled my eyes at Brock before he continued. "I'm here for you."

I began to giggle, before an uncontrollable laughter escaped from me. "You're here for me?" I repeated. The boy nodded uncertainly, increasing my laughter. "Usually that's something a friend would say."

Brock looked at me quizzically, before allowing a pained expression to show through. "Are you saying there's something wrong with me assuming I'm your friend?" I shrugged, keeping my lips shut. "Misty, just tell me what's wrong. I want to understand you." The boy pleaded. Each word he spoke made me feel sadder and sadder; the realization that our friendship was being ruined by my idiocy was hitting me hard. I wanted Brock and I to be close again… I wanted us to be best friends again. But it was as though Ash's stubborn attitude had rubbed off on me, and I wouldn't allow anyone near. And that fact was what was destroying my relationships, and me.

"Saying 'I'm here for you' is rather ironic, considering you and Ash never came to see me at Cerulean, even when you were nearby." I elaborated. "A friend who is 'here for me' would at least come to see me and see how I'm doing in prison- oops, I mean, Cerulean City Gym." I smiled bitterly. Brock paused, before opening his mouth to retaliate. I didn't let him. "If I hadn't come to Ash's this time, none of you would have thought to come see me, and I would have continued living _alone_."

"Misty," Brock interrupted.

"No, Brock. Maybe you were trying to save me! Because ever since I've been here I've been more miserable than when I was being enslaved by my sisters-" I was starting to let my words just flow out. I shouldn't have begun to tell him at all, because it was only leading to me letting other things slip.

"Don't say those things!" He commanded firmly.

"It's true, though. Honestly, you only think they're so great because you're attracted to them," I spat. "You can't believe such 'beautiful people' would be so cruel-"

"I was talking about you being miserable. You shouldn't feel so sad… you're with us, your friends." Friends, hah. Brock must have been offended by what I had said, because the pain was coming through more and more in his voice.

"Yeah, you would be too if you were an outcast." I mumbled unhappily into my knees.

"Stop saying these things," Brock ordered. "What is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" I asked in disbelief.

"This isn't like you. You were never like this." I bit my lip angrily, before turning to my only friend, Pikachu. I was greeted by a sad, shocked face. Even Pikachu was turning on me? Even Pikachu couldn't understand me?….

I began to choke up, as I could feel a stinging sensation returning behind my eyes.

I shouldn't have began telling Brock all this, but for some reason, I did. Maybe I thought I could trust him, or maybe I badly needed to vent to someone. Either way, I'd spilt too much information….

I was so happy when I saw Pikachu before, and right after that moment I wanted to cry. Soon after I was angrily spilling out my emotions to someone I thought I didn't trust. And now I was just melting down once again. This was all just turning into one big break down.

"Misty!…" Brock said confusedly and rather panicky. I guess I would be rather scared if some girl had an outburst to me, and then started crying.

"Pi-ka pi!" Pikachu had crawled towards me, and was attempting to crawl into my lap. However, I was holding my legs too tightly to my chest to grant the critter access, as I had began sulking into my knees.

"I _am _sorry." My voice wavered as I mumbled out the words.

I was sorry for treating everyone in such a bad manner, I was sorry for letting my emotions control me so much, and I was sorry for believing so much in what was _true_. The truth hurts, I suppose. But there was one thing I knew, and that was I needed someone. Someone to help... I needed Brock.

That was probably the wisest decision I'd made since being there. I needed somebody. I needed to put my stubborness aside for a moment. I needed to do something, and hurting Brock was just hurting me. I just couldn't handle that anymore.

"Misty-" As he began speaking my name, I dropped my knees into the bed, revealing my tear-stained face. I gulped before lunging forward, and pulling Brock into a bear-hug.

"I'm sorry!" I practically shouted into his shoulder, as tears leaped from my eyes. In a moment of shock, the boy just sat there, before returning the hug I was giving him.

I didn't know if he really meant it as he hugged me back, but in that moment, I felt real happiness as I embraced my childhood friend.

I cried silently on his shoulder as we sat there, locked together, but I could feel happiness filling my entire body.

Maybe winning a war wasn't so impossible after all.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed this chapter:D I know it seemed a little MistyxBrock-ish, but I just wanted to stress their friendship. I think their friendship is really powerful and should be shown that way! Anywaaaaaay. Thanks so much for reading it... I'll update with the next chapter as soooon as possible! Thanks again... and REVIEW:D


	10. Accusations

**OBSTRUCTION**

**Chapter TEN: **Accusations

By: Marisa

There! I did what I said I would do. I updated fairly quickly!… well, quicker than last time at least. Aren't you all proud of me? I certainly am. Lmfao. I feel inspired at the moment, that's why I was so itching to get writing haha.

So here I am, at the tenth chapter! I honestly don't think I've ever had a fic pass 10 chapters… sad isn't it? I feel really dedicated to this one now though, and I'm set on finishing it.

Since this is the tenth chapter, I figured I better make this one even longer. :)

As I mentioned in the last chapter, this story is going to be taking a bit of a different path than I first intended… But I think this second plan I have come up with is even better than the original, so hopefully you will enjoy.

Thanks again to all my reviewers. I couldn't have continued without your help and support. I read each and every review you all give me, and each puts a smile on my face. Thanks so much.

And don't forget to…

**Read **& **REVIEW!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any character from said show, or anyone/anything associated in creating it.

* * *

_Last time: Misty thought angrily to herself as she reflect on past events. Brock entered into her room, bringing Pikachu along with him. Ecstatic to see her old-time Pokemon friend, Misty brightened up. The nostalgic feeling she received however brought her back down to tears. After having an argument with Brock, she finally apologised and hugged her long time friend, finally mending a bridge._

* * *

The small plaid curtains that hung over the window frames blew in the calm summer wind as a cool breeze made its way past the Ketchum house. The rays of sunlight beaming down from the blazing hot sun fell right through the open window and onto the hardwood floor, as well as the bed that stood in the corner of the room. The rays that fell on my eyes gradually began pulling me from my slumber as the light bothered them to no end. I grumbled as I tried to sink back into my dreams, but to no avail. My eyes opened slowly, only to be greeted by the irritating sunlight.

Accepting that I would not be able to fall back asleep, I rose up from the comfort of the bed and threw myself into a big stretch. Despite having my sleep interrupted, today was going to be a good day. While I had no knowledge of my future, I was confident that I was on the road back to victory. I had a chance to regain composure and to gain the upper hand in this war that I was fighting.

I may not have had any troops backing me in the battle field, but I had one less enemy to worry about: Brock.

If I played my cards right--possibly gaining some well deserved sympathy from the Pokemon breeder--I could even add him to my team. I had already begun to string him back into my list of friends… a.k.a the list of people who could aid me. I loved Brock dearly since the days when we camped together on our journeys, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't using him to help me tame the beast inside of myself, and the growing hostility between Ash and I.

The last day or two at Ash's had caused more confusion than I had probably ever had experienced within one month, but I could hopefully bring that to an end. I wasn't exactly sure when Ash and I had started going downhill or what had caused it, but all I knew was that it was happening, and it was happening quickly.

I had visited Ash in hopes of rekindling our friendship, but had only been greeted with disdain. He had made it clear to me that I was unwanted, so I only shot that emotion right back at him. This had given birth to arguments and tension between us, and now I was unsure where we stood.

But finally I was able to put coherent thoughts together. I was able to run over the situation without cringing or tensing up. I was finally gaining control.

But I wouldn't stop there. I was gaining control of Ash's pawns as well. I was finally allowing Brock to once again be called a friend, but maybe for all the wrong reasons. I was in need of ears to hear my venting, and also a mouth to inform me of Ash's most recent plans. I hadn't necessarily regained my friendship with Brock, but I was getting there.

As well as that, I had regained the love and friendship of Ash's best friend, Pikachu. If there was anyone that Ash relied on most, it was definitely his little yellow pal. But Ash also was aware that on more than one occasion, the creature had refused to oppose me. Therefore in this battle of emotions, Pikachu was on neither side. But that was better for me, anyway.

I smiled to the room as I ran these thoughts through my head once more. Not only did it delight me that I was finally regaining a chance at surviving in the enemy's lair, but also that I was regaining control over myself, and my ability to scheme.

I had always acted with my emotions rather than act with my head when it came to any situation, but it was time to end that. Being depressed over Ash no longer needing me as a friend and ditching me in Cerulean City was not going to help me. No. Because of the pain that that thought aroused in me every time I brought it up, I needed to push it to the back of my mind to not allow it to distract me. I needed to just accept that Ash had ditched me no longer wanted to have contact with me, and use that fact as fuel only, and from there make him suffer.

Why should I make him suffer? I didn't have a specific answer to that thought myself. Most people wouldn't hold a grudge over something like this. Most people would move on and find new friends. But for some reason, I felt such an extreme anger bottling up inside that was directed at Ash.

However, when I thought of creating pain for Ash similar to that of which he had distributed to me, I felt very hesitant to do so. I was angry, I was upset, and for once I had wanted to hurt someone other than Team Rocket, but really the last thing I wanted to do was inflict pain upon someone I cared so much about.

Ash…

No, I had to accept the conclusion I had come to before. It was time to start thinking with my head, and not with my heart… If someone hurts me, I should hurt them back, right?

But it scared even me to think about how I wanted to cause Ash real pain… to think of how I was becoming… and to think of hurting the one whom I would like to call my best friend. But it was too late to regret the decision. I had already charged into the Ketchum residence and started this battle with Ash. I had already broken down our trust and whatever we had built together in means of friendship. I had clearly gotten through to Ash already and inflicted some pain, hence why he'd rejected me so suddenly, and I needed to continue until he suffered.

I'd already ruined our chances at fixing our once close bond. And perhaps that was one of that thoughts that just fuelled my wish to create emotional pain for my fellow trainer. I was certain we would not be in this predicament if Ash had only shown that he'd cared for me… if he'd not forgotten about me, and if he'd visited at least once. Therefore, it was all his fault. I had only begun this battle, but he instigated it. It was his fault.

He was trying to destroy the thing I loved most.

I sat on the bed merely thinking of all these things for quite a while, allowing myself to be enveloped in the sadness once again, before shaking my head furiously. I needed to leave this sadness and anger Ash had given me behind. It was time to make him pay for destroying our relationship.

He was trying to destroy us.

I hopped out of the bed finally, before taking another big stretch. I had slept in rather late, so it was expected that I could already hear conversation through the doorway. I heaved a deep breath, before clasping my hand onto the cold door knob. I pushed past my hesitation and threw the door open, before marching down the hall confidently.

My fellow 'friends' were all up and awake. Ash, Brock, and Max were situated in front of the TV as usual, and May and Ash's mother Delia were at the table, engaging in mindless chatter. As I approached the room, Ash's head turned in an instant. Seeing the one boy turn around, Brock and Max followed suit. May and Delia's eyes looked up from their conversation, and fell on me almost instantly. Rather than being uncomfortable about them being alert over my presence, I merely embraced the attention.

"Good morning, everyone." I smiled with a fake cheerfulness. My sudden change of mood caused their eyes to do a double take on me, but before allowing awkwardness to ensue, they averted their glare back to whatever they were doing, but still remained aware that I was there.

"Good morning, Misty!" Ash's mother chirped quickly, seeing as how no one else had given a response. I smiled politely, before seating myself right across from May. Her usual bubbly attitude had dispersed, and instead she refused to make eye contact with me.

That was bad.

"Good morning May." I said happily. The girl pulled her Pokedex out from her pocket, before examining the contents inside.

"Good morning." She said blandly.

"Your Pokedex is so much different from mine." I commented as I examined the device in front of me. "But I guess that since you got your Pokedex from a different region that it _would _be made differently." The girl nodded, still looking over the technological equipment as thought it were extremely interesting.

"What are you making for breakfast?" May asked, quickly laying her eyes on Delia without giving me even a glance. She was avoiding my stare, avoiding my statements, and probably wished to avoid me all together.

It was clear that the night before when Ash had been lifting his problems onto the Pokemon coordinator, he'd created a bad image of me. Regularly May had attempted to be kind and make friends with me, however now I could see that she not interested in being a part in my life. Not that this bothered me, as I wasn't interested in her being in my life either. But this just meant that Ash really did have a lot of bad things to say about me.

Forget me reconsidering whether or not to make Ash suffer. He _really _deserved it.

"I already have a fruit dish in the fridge dear," She said happily. "I can bring it out any time." May nodded.

"That would be nice." At that, Ash's mother rose up from the table and made her way to the fridge. As she opened the appliance, she called out to no one in particular.

"Would you like me to make some chocolate chip muffins as well?"

"Yes please!" Max cried out almost immediately from the couch. As mature as the youth seemed to be, there was no denying that he had the appetite and taste buds of a child. Chocolate chip muffins had been a favourite of mine when I had been younger--actually anything consisting of chocolate had been--but I had become less eager about those things as I had become older. Of course, I really shouldn't have been basing every single person's actions off of my own experiences, especially considering none of them were anything like me.

Seeing that the table only contained May and I sitting awkwardly together, I decided to try and pursue conversation with the girl. "You seem awfully low-key today," I commented with fake concern. "Is something wrong, May?"

The girl looked up to me, her eyes connecting with mine for the first time that morning. I couldn't exactly read her expression, although I associated it with something similar to disbelief. I knew I would have been a little appalled had someone changed their personality completely over night, too. Perhaps that was what she was thinking, or perhaps she really did despise me for my actions.

"Nope, I'm great." May forced out a smile, and it was obvious. For someone who was generally bubbly and all smiles, it was very easy to see when she was faking her happiness. Something was bothering her, and that fact was bothering me. I didn't see any way of getting the fact out of her however, so I merely shrugged.

"Oh, I'm glad." I lied as well.

Sometimes I felt as though had I not been put into this situation, May and I could have been very good friends. There really was nothing dislikeable about the coordinator, and we may have even had some similarities. Surely someone so happy could have spread their happiness to the group they were in, had you not already disliked them… had I been in that group.

I would not allow myself to feel apologetic to the girl for disliking her though. Lately I would wonder why I would let myself feel such negative emotions towards my old friends, and people I didn't even know. But then I would remember: they caused my pain. They were the source of it all. All of them.

The rest of that morning I portrayed myself as my old and happy self, while inside I reassured myself how much these people had destroyed what I was pretending to be.

* * *

"This is ridiculous." I shook my head as we marched into the nearby park. I'd never spent a lot of time in playgrounds when I was little, considering I was always too busy and out on adventures, but I wasn't unfamiliar with the comfort found in swinging through the air.

The two of us had decided to take a trip to the park that afternoon, considering everyone else was busy with other activities.

"What is ridiculous?" The boy asked, as he marched alongside me, his feet sinking into the grains of sand. I shrugged.

"Everything. Don't you see how everyone is treating me?" I sighed as I approached the swing set, before reaching my hands out and grabbing onto the cold chains. Steadying the seat, I sat myself upon it carefully, before kicking myself into a little swing. The boy paused for a moment, before sitting on the swing directly adjacent to my own. He chose to only dangle in one spot rather than swing along with me.

"Misty…" Brock said slowly, unsure of what he should say. It was obvious to me that he didn't want to listen to me talk badly of his friends, and therefore was not willing to agree with what I was saying. In the long run, he would not help me. This was where sympathy was going to be needed.

In an attempt to gain attention at my sadness, I sighed dramatically as I brought my swing to a halt, before hanging my head a little.

"Don't be so sad, Mist." He said quickly when he noticed my behaviour, "Can't you elaborate more? Why are you so upset?" There it was. The conversation starter that would allow me to convey my feelings and in return gain the sympathy I so needed in order to have Brock help me out.

"Just… You guys forgot all about me… you left me in Cerulean city, with my _sisters_." I built the emotion up as I continued on. "I'm nothing to you guys anymore. You have new friends. Our past was only a memory. Our friendship…" I paused, allowing Brock to register what I'd said, and to piece together what I was about to say.

Telling Brock that I was upset over him and Ash forgetting me wasn't a lie, but I'd already come to terms with the fact, and therefore it upset me less. I wasn't going to whine about it to myself anymore - there was no point. No, all I wanted to do at that point was have Brock feel concern, and then once again value me, possibly even more than he did Ash. He would see the cruelty of Ash's ways, and surely join my side in the fight. That was the only way I could stop Ash from destroying me.

"Just look what I've become…" I thought aloud. There wasn't any point in denying that I'd become a different, colder person. In fact, that would only help further my pain from Brock's perspective. He would see the outcome of the pain Ash and him had distributed to me, and maybe then he would regret his actions. Maybe then, he would aid me in getting Ash back.

"Misty, don't say that." Brock urged. Clearly my taunting had been bothering him, as his emotions had risen from their once calm state. Brock had always been very hushed when it came to things like anger and sadness. However it was clear that I was leaving a negative impression on him with what I was saying and that it was affecting him. "Look, I care so much for you," he reassured before continuing, "But do _you _even know why you're acting so cold to everyone?" He didn't try to mask his words, he just straight out said it. It was unlike him to be so blunt.

"Everyone forgot about me!" I exclaimed. "You and Ash have Max and _May_ now. Misty is just forgotten." I said, referring to myself in third person.

"What about Tracey?" He asked, trying hard to remain cool.

"What?"

"A while ago, you and Ash left on an adventure of your own and met another friend, Tracey. You traveled with him." I felt a bang of shock hit me; I hadn't even considered that. But this was different.

"Yeah, but you _chose _to stay behind. I didn't have a choice!" I spat venomously.

"But are you saying that I wouldn't miss you guys during that time? That I didn't worry I would never see my best friends again, and that in the long time we may be apart, they may forget about me?" Brock asked. "That is the problem you have now, isn't it?" I shook my head.

"This is different!" Brock had now turned his swing to directly face mine, before allowing anger to overthrow him.

"No it isn't!" He exclaimed. "The only thing different is that I allowed my friends to welcome me back to their group once we'd met up again. I didn't hold any grudges or get angry at them for continuing their lives. The world doesn't revolve around me; they're allowed to live without my O.k."

With each word the breeder spat out at me, I could feel my old discarded emotions once again stirring within myself. I knew what it was: betrayal. I'd allowed myself to open up to Brock a significant amount, and I'd only been met with anger and hate. Brock didn't understand.

"You were allowed back into your group of friends because your friends _cared_ about you." I said simply, positive my implication had gotten through to him.

A feeling of being lost began to wash over me as I looked to Brock. I had come to him, my 'friend', and allowed myself to open up--even if only to steal Ash's friends away from him--but what I'd received in return was not the care and respect I would have been given by the tanned youth a few years ago. He had changed. He wasn't the loving cook that would have once sat down with me and cared for me till my sadness came to an end. He wasn't acting like the loving brother that would reassure me everything would be alright. He wasn't acting like the loving breeder the would have understood everything and anything about anyone.

"Misty, I do care. Ash cares. Even May and Max are worried about your behaviour. If you would give them a chance, you'd know they're kind people!"

"Ash doesn't care!" I cried out in amidst of my sudden recollection of emotions.

"Yes, he does. Why do you even say these things?"

Looking down to the grains of sand, I elaborated. "He forgot about me. He never wanted me to come. When I show up to his house, he completely ignored me and acted like he wished I never came! And he argues seriously with me with such hate-"

"You're just leading yourself to believe these things." The tall boy interjected. "You both have always argued, but you never used to drag it out this long." Frustration swept over me as I listened to each and every word Brock spoke. My plan wasn't going the way it was supposed to at all. Brock was supposed to _understand_.

I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down my raging insides for a moment before continuing, "Brock, you related my predicament to when I traveled with Tracy and _you _were left behind. You _must _understand how that felt. But imagine if when you came back to Ash and I that we simply rejected you because we'd forgotten you when we'd met Tracy. Because Tracy took your place. _Replaced _you." The boy didn't spend a moment thinking about the scenario I had placed before him, and instead came back with his same old rebuttal.

"Misty, May has not taken your place." I laughed quickly before responding.

"What if I was talking about Max?"

"I know that you're not. Do you think I'm blind?" I raised my eyebrows, awaiting a response.

"Pardon?"

"The way you're saying all this, it's not the fact we left you at Cerulean Gym, it's the fact that we traveled with May. Because you feel threatened by her." With his conclusion, Brock merely turned away from me and began to sway on the swing.

Laughing once more, I demanded a clarification, "I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean. Threatened? I don't care at all that May's there. I'm just angry at Ash and you for forgetting about me…."

"Nope, now you're contradicting yourself." The boy started simply, his voice becoming much more confident. "You just told me you were angered by the fact you felt replaced. But had we just been travelling with Max, you would not have been as angry as you are now. You would have still missed us, but you would have arrived at Ash's house a few days ago regardless. You would have been _happy _to see us. The reason you're so angry now is because of May. You feel threatened because you feel like she is replacing you. But why her and not Max? Because you're _jealous_." He stated matter-of-factly.

"Excuse me?" Shock. Shock was the only feeling in my whole entire body. I had lost the ability to create any responses to fight back with, and merely allowed myself to be backed into a wall with Brock's continuous accusations. "Jealous?" I muttered like a dumbstruck idiot searching for a definition.

"Because you like Ash, and you're worried of him liking May. I didn't think jealousy could do _this _to a person, though…"

For lack of a better word--or maybe it was the best word to use--I felt out right flabbergasted. Brock had always been intelligent and mature-- had he not gone out of his mind with infatuation for a pretty girl--but he really was WRONG this time. Regularly his last statement would have been the fuel to my next comeback, but those first words were the boldest things sticking out in my mind, and they were rendering the side of my brain that formed my arguments useless.

"I don't know what you're talking about…." Was all I could come up with. It was Brock's turn to laugh.

"Mist, I've known you for a long, _long _time. We're best friends. It didn't take me _that_ long to catch on. I may not be the greatest for recognizing things like that, but I'm not so clueless as to…" He continued talking, this time in a softer tone, but that didn't justify what he'd said. Nothing he was saying justified anything. Sure, maybe I'd admit to crushing on Ash when I was like eleven, but really. That was _so_ long ago. I had grown out of that.

I was the new Misty, remember?

"You're wrong." I interrupted. The boy ended his explanation on whatever he was blabbering on about before turning to me.

"About?" He inquired. I shook my head.

"E-everything!" My tongue was rolling off words like a reflex without even consulting my brain. I could see everything clearly, I could understand Brock clearly, but I could not put my points together clearly.

Really, what was wrong?! It wasn't such a big deal for Brock to think that I liked Ash. I had liked him when I was younger, sure. Brock would have noticed a crush like that way back when. But he hadn't seen me lately. So of course it was rational to think that I may still like the Pokemon trainer. But I had grown up. He just had to be shown that things had changed. Therefore all it was, was that Brock had just made a false guess. There was no reason for me to freak out. I still had a chance at winning this war with Brock's help! Nothing bad happened. It was just another accusation.

I hopped out of my swing and took several paces forward, before turning to face the Pokemon breeder that still sat in the swing. "You're wrong about me liking Ash." I said firmly, attempting to collect myself.

"Am I?" The boy asked. I nodded.

"You're a good friend of mine, so I will admit to you that I used to like Ash way back in the day, but really, I've grown up. We've all grown up. We're all different people. I'm _clearly_ a different person."

"But why are you a different person?" He asked. Of course he had to be stubborn. He could never just take my word for anything, could he?

"What is that even supposed to mean!? I'm a different person because I've grown up! Things change, Brock!" The boy nodded along with the words I said.

"That would be believable, had you not just given me perfect evidence to support the thesis that you like Ash, perhaps even _love _him, and are jealous of the friendship he has with May." As he spoke these words, he stroked his chin in an all-knowing manner like he was some genius or something.

"I don't love him!" I shrieked. "You don't even know what love is, you go from girl to girl in the matter of two days!" Once again, the tanned youth nodded, judging each word that spewed from my mouth.

"Really, you don't have to get so defensive. You yourself know if it is true or not, does my opinion really matter?" With that, the older male had lifted from his swing and marched towards me. He wore no specific expression, but I knew inside he was praising himself for humiliating me like this. He knew his mission to back me into a corner and beat me at my own game was accomplished. And it just pissed me off.

"You're right." I smiled bitterly.

"Let's go back, shall we?"

* * *

Tada! I wrote you all a pretty long chapter, if I do say so myself. :D I hope you all enjoyed it. My past chapters were a little slow in plot development, so I thought I'd speed it up a little. I hope it satisfied you all! Thanks so much everybody for reading… now please REVIEW!


	11. The Beginning

**OBSTRUCTION**

**Chapter Eleven: **The Beginning

By: Marisa

Hello everyone! Sorry for the very delayed update. I've been a bit busy with things, but I don't really have a good excuse.

Anyway, thank you all so, SO much for you reviews last chapter. They were absolutely great. I love each and every one I get, so thank you so much for taking the time to review.

I'm a little disappointed with myself this time though. Last time I wrote a rather long chapter, and this time the chapter barely makes 2,000 words. I apologize, but next chapter will be longer! Please bear with me.

Also, a lot of you have been commenting that this story seems kind of like MistyxBrock. I read over some of my past chapters (and fixed them up) and I can definitely see where you guys are coming from. But I just want to clarify that this story is not MxB. It's just that, I find that on the adventures they had together, Misty and Brock must have become very close. If there was anyone that Misty needed reassurance that they were behind her, it would be her old best friend, since he means more to her than most people. I was just trying to emphasize how important their friendship was, but I hope it didn't come across too shippy. But from now on you'll probably definitely see more growth between Ash and Misty since it has been lacking. Sorry about that!

And don't forget to…

**Read **& **REVIEW****!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or anything associated with creating the franchise.

* * *

_Last time: Misty awoke in Ash's house thinking of her plans to recover from her depression. Marching into the kitchen in a cheery mood, she treated everyone kindly only to be treated back with hostility. May was less than friendly to her, leading her to believe Ash had told May some nasty things about her._

_Afterwards, Misty and Brock went to the park. Engaging in an argument about Misty's behaviour, Brock ended up accusing Misty of loving Ash. Finding that to be ridiculous, Misty merely disagreed and suggested dropping the topic._

* * *

"…_you like Ash, perhaps even love him…"_

That wasn't the usual thought that circled my mind, but Brock's accusations hadn't left me alone since the moment we'd left the park. What he'd said was ridiculous--_preposterous_. The only emotion I had even felt for Ash in the recent time that I'd been at his house was just betrayal, and I'd even go as far as to say hate. Not that I hated him, but it seemed as though my path was leading in that direction….

But then again, my negative emotions _had_been clouding over all other emotions that I'd been feeling. The hate and pain that grew inside of me had begun swallowing all my other feelings of friendship and respect that had once been the most predominant emotions that I'd associated with Ash Ketchum.

But friendship and respect were the _only_ feelings being destroyed by my negativity. There was no attraction inside me to be overcome by the feelings of vengeance.

Even being fully aware of how much this thought of liking Ash was untrue, it remained the most viewed topic in the order of my thoughts. Perhaps because it was the first thing to distract my mind from the hurt that I felt; I had been longing to get away from the pain. What better way was there to get away from my deteriorating world than to distract myself with another playful idea?

Liking Ash.

It wasn't true, and therefore there was no harm in evaluating the idea. Right?

Our walk back to the Ketchum residence was long and tiring. We were shrouded in silence, but my thoughts were elsewhere anyway. I was paying very little attention where I was walking; it was as though I was on auto-pilot. Considering, yet rejecting thoughts kept me occupied within my own mind, and my feelings of sadness and anger were slowly wearing away. Focusing on anything other than my own downfall seemed to gradually brighten my mood. But it was only because the thoughts distracted me, not because I enjoyed them.

"Are you still angry?" The voice that spoke softly to my right immediately reeled me back in from however far I'd wandered from my present state. Brock began to slow his pace, and I too followed suit until we were both paused in the middle of the pathway.

"Why do you ask that?" I asked with mere curiosity. The tanned youth shrugged his shoulders.

"I didn't mean to upset you," He said simply. "And Ash and I value you a lot more than you could ever imagine. The only reason we couldn't come back was because we were busy with our journey. There were things we had to do."

I sighed. I couldn't help but be comforted by Brock consistently trying to reassure me he cared. No matter how much I had convinced myself that no one cared, or how much I wanted to prove to myself Brock was setting me up to be knocked down, I couldn't prevent myself from starting to feel comforted that at least someone was making the effort to show they cared.

"It's alright…" I spoke softly, before looking to him.

That glance to each other must have been the first time we were really seeing each other for the first time in ages.

While I was positive that anger inside of me had just pulled into the shadows for its moment of rest, for the time being, I felt more calm than I had in a while. Perhaps it was Brock calming down, or perhaps it was the immense amounts of distracting I was doing to keep myself away from the anger.

When we'd entered back into the house, I didn't feel the need shoot either May nor Ash with insults. After all, I hadn't really given Ash and I a chance to make up from that fight. It was one argument and then I had completely shut him out, and assumed he hated me.

I could have been right, but if I was to commence a war against someone, I needed to know all the facts. I couldn't just assume.

That's what I kept telling myself was the reason I had from then on spontaneously started acting nicely to Ash.

Regardless of my continuous efforts onward to try to show Ash I was willing to make amends and move onward and try to accept May and Max--although I was already over the fence for accepting Max--he still acted somewhat hostile and suspicious.

It wasn't until one dinner that my persevering and confident attitude finally burnt out.

We were all seated around the dining table, eating the delicious dinner Ash's mother had conjured up. It was a moment of silence in which everyone had the first bite crunching around in their mouth, before Ash finally cleared his throat before engaging a conversation.

"So mom," he gestured towards the woman sitting across from him, "We're going to leave tomorrow, if that's alright." He awaited his mother's confirmation as he plopped another mouthful of food into his mouth.

I had totally forgotten that the group would need to leave at some point. And now they were abandoning me once more. I urged Delia with my mind to tell them to stay. I was being selfish again. But I did not want to be alone again. Ironic considering how hard I was just wishing I could be away from the whole house.

Looking towards Mrs. Ketchum, she finally swallowed her food and spoke. "Of course Ashykins! As long as you think you're ready to go!"

"We're always ready." The teenager responded, reminding me so much like the same daring Ash I had always known.

I felt all hope that had been accumulating however slowly was quickly vanishing down a dark drain. I merely stared down at my food in awe as the group continued to chat about what they were doing and where they were going. I didn't seem to clue into anything they were saying until direction was brought up for discussion.

"What direction are you going in? Heading north west at all?" I inquired relatively casually.

The lot of them merely sat there like I'd asked some impossible question, before Max said easily "We _are_going west-ish."

I immediately perked up, my heart suddenly thumping against my rib-cage. "Well I live north west!" I exclaimed. "Any way I could accompany you till we cross over near Cerulean City?" I quickly added, "It'll be like old times."

Max shrugged his shoulders before looking to the rest of his team. May had an expression akin to shock, but I didn't let her dislike for me get my hopes down. Ash looked indifferent to the idea, but when did he show interest in anything I said?

Brock shrugged his shoulder, "I'm fine with the idea. It'll be fun travelling with you again, even if it is only for a couple of days." I nodded while remaining calm, but inside my body was having a fiesta.

"Sure." Ash said abruptly. "It's fine. If we're both going in the same direction there's no sense in not travelling together I guess." I smiled lightly, a wave of relief rushing over me.

"Thanks guys."

It was like a dream come true.

I had packed all of my bags in no time at all--although I hadn't really unpacked that much--as soon as they news had gotten out into the air. I was going to travel again. I was going to be travelling with my brothers again.

I couldn't help but feel like all the pain had been worth it. All the suffering and emotional mood swings I had been suffering from had suddenly become forgotten to the new happiness I was experiencing. I had convinced myself that life would be as I knew it when I was eleven.

But constantly the negative side of me would return into my mind and remind me it was only for several days. There was no years of travelling. It was merely a few days. And after those few days of paradise, what would I be returning to?

The gym. The place I purposely tried to get away from.

I didn't want to accept the fact that my happiness would be short, and once again I'd be left at home.

Ditched.

These thoughts constantly brought a sting to my eyes, tears slipping down onto my cheeks. They weren't tears of anger however. It was tears of sadness that tainted my skin. I didn't want to be alone again. I didn't want my life to pass by as I merely sat at home.

With a single finger I would wipe the tear from my cheek before continuing preparing for the short trip.

The morning came as quickly as my sleep did - not very quickly at all. I laid awake constantly, unable to shake the thoughts from my head. I was like a little kid anticipating Christmas and being unable to fall asleep.

After sleep had finally claimed me, it seemed as though I was rising as soon as I had dozed off. My sleep was light; as soon as the sun hit my face, my eyes opened easily with no resistance.

While everything seemed to be moving sluggishly slow, at the same time thing were incredible quick. It seemed like only a day ago that Ash and I had hated each others guts, and suddenly I was at the door, saying my goodbyes to Delia, and about to travel with that same boy.

I was trying to bring myself to forgive him, but our conversations were always cut short. Every time I would engage a chat with him, it wouldn't be long before an activity or chore was calling out his name, and he would have to abandon me. I couldn't help but feel it was purposely, but it didn't matter.

All that mattered was that already Delia was waving us out the door and I was standing on the old dirt pathway that Ash must have rushed down to get his first Pokemon.

It seemed as though this pathway had seen the beginnings of many different adventures.

* * *

Thank you all once again for reading! I appreciate it soo much. This chapter I feel was a little short compared to the last, and I was really going to start writing long chapters… but I haven't updated for a while, and I hardly had anything finished, so I rushed a little to give this to everyone who was waiting. Sorry if it does seem rushed. But next chapter will be better.. I hope. XD Anyway, please **REVIEW!**


	12. Twisted Fate

**OBSTRUCTION**

**Chapter Twelve: **Twisted Fate

By: Marisa

Hello once again everybody. Good to see you all. I was aiming to make this chapter really long, and I did make it past the amount of pages I wanted to, but the word count still shows it's as long as any of my other chapters… Gyah. Sorry… but at least the quality is good I think! I hope you'll all be satisfied with it. I was intending to get this chapter in within two weeks, and I failed once again. I apologize, but something came up. I'm really so sorry!

And, I feel my story is really inconsistent when it comes to plot and characters, and that fact is really bothering me. I hope you aren't all bothered by it as much as I am.

And the 6th Pokemon movie, "Jirachi The Wish Maker" or whatever was on TV earlier this week. I decided to watch it and it gave me the inspiration I needed to write this story. It also gave me a better feel for May and Max. But in that movie I swear the only word that came out of Brock's mouth was "girls?!" and "Diane!" Lmao, I had a good laugh at how pointless Brock's character has become and how the only thing that drives him is his love for women.

Anyway, back to "**Obstruction**"….

And don't forget to…

**Read **& **REVIEW!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or anything associated with creating the franchise.

* * *

_Last time: It was revealed that the gang would be leaving the Ketchum residence and starting on a new adventure. When discovering the direction of their travels, Misty suggest dropping her off at Cerulean city. The gang agreed, and so they departed. _

* * *

"Is it always like that?" Max inquired as he plopped down beside me. He examined the movements of the yellow duck as though he were being shown something akin to a legendary Pokemon, and it was imperative that he comprehend some sort of valuable information.

"Yes, unfortunately…" I threw my hand out vigorously in an attempt to gain the attention of the creature before me. The Pokemon food Brock had prepared had been well received by all my other Pokemon, however as always, Psyduck had to make things complicated.

"Have you trained it properly?" The boy asked.

"It can't be trained," I said half-jokingly. I waved the food around in front of its unfocused eyes, encouraging it to eat something. "Come on, Psyduck!" I moaned impatiently.

"I can't believe you and Psyduck have stuck together for so long." Ash commented as he passed by, Pikachu perched upon his shoulder. I glanced up at the boy for a moment, before my eyes sped back to the creature that sat dumbly in front of me. It was almost as though he were trying to insult my ability to keep friends. We had all always known how close Ash and Pikachu were; why was it difficult to believe I could be close with a Pokemon too? I couldn't help but take it that he was implying I could not keep a people close to me. And the thought angered me a great amount.

Things had gotten better since we'd left the house. Ash and I would chat from time to time, but there was always tensio these subtle attacks from both sides. Due to that, my anger and distrust could never fully disperse. I didn't know why there was this need to intentionally put each other down, but all I knew was that neither of us would give up. Already I had so much anger pent up towards him, and he was just stubborn.

I focused back at the matter at hand - feeding my Psyduck. I appreciated the duck's presence. Despite all the irritation the Pokemon had caused me within our time together, we had grown to be extremely close. He was irritating at points, and also he aroused my impatient nature extremely often, but he was only misunderstood just like I was. But through it all, no matter what, we had stuck together. Psyduck had stuck with me through all the hardships, and remained by my side since the day I had accidentally acquired him, unlike some other people….

Heaving a deep sigh, I glanced up in the direction we had journeyed from. It had only been a day since we'd marched down the dirt path residing in front of the Ketchum household all the way into the forest. It'd been a great thing for me. Just what I had needed was to get out of that battle zone called a house.

I hadn't had another angry fit since the argument with Ash, and due to that, the people around me were becoming less and less resistant to talk to me. Max openly talked to me about things, completely overlooking the terrible attitude I had shown before. He was merely treating me like a regular person should be treated.

Brock and I were becoming friends all over again. In one fell swoop I had destroyed all my friendships, or at least damaged them severely. Inside I was aching from the loss I had caused myself, but Brock allowed us to rebuild our friendship once more. I couldn't help but resent that fact he and Ash had left me to suffer, but I had been trying to overlook it.

The two of us would chat throughout the day and train the Pokemon we had together when we felt like doing so. He consistently pursued in asking me why I was always so frustrated and upset, but his efforts were futile. He knew what he needed to know about my sadness - the source of it being the fact I'd been abandoned and uncared for. My assumptions were that he_ was_ trying to get me to admit that I liked Ash Ketchum, and then elaborate.

It was a shame there was nothing to elaborate upon.

In my attempt to try and work things out after my whole rampage, I had been attempting to patch things all up with Ash. However, the main emotion that remained the source of my pain and also my main focus was my anger at him. There was no attraction. On the contrary, we were constantly pushing each other away.

In my longing to have the original trio restored and friends again, I would consistently try to patch things between us. But there was always a comment or two that would just set off my negativity, and my reasons for disliking him in the first place would be renewed. Maybe I had been doing something wrong, or perhaps he had just grown into a jerk. But neither of us could continue on without the snide remarks.

It was depressing how such a close group could have fallen apart so dramatically. I couldn't help but feel mostly responsible for the harsh feelings, but I had a right. I was the one they left alone. I was the one who was replaced by May.

May had never said or done anything particularly cold to me, however in our time together I could tell she acted especially kind to all but me. She was displeased about my presence among 'the group', or so it seemed. Perhaps it was because Ash had misrepresented me as a terrible person when he had consoled her and whined about what I had said, exaggerating every detail. Sure, I could be harsh, rude, and argumentative, but there were other, kinder layers to me that May just hadn't seen. Not that it was worth the trouble to show them to her. I wasn't interested in befriending May.

Pulling from my thoughts and turning back to the matter at hand, I sighed. "Fine, don't eat then," I said to my Psyduck, defeated. After throwing the food to the ground so that Psyduck could at its leisure, I closed the tin containing the Pokemon food. Retreating back to Brock, I handed him the can before giving him my thanks. All my Pokemon had been fed, and the sun was already setting. There wouldn't be much left to do but settle down around the camp. The fire had already been made, courtesy of Brock and Ash, and the food was…

"Brock, what are we eating for dinner?" I asked. Focusing more on feeding his Pokemon rather than us, the idea seemed to have only struck him then.

"Oh yeah, dinner…" He said.

"Please don't tell me you forgot about dinner." May whined. "I am starving."

"Me too!" Max chirped in.

"Alright alright," The tanned youth silenced us as his stood up from tending to his hunger-stricken Pokemon. "I'll get right to it," turning towards us, he stroked his chin. "Can someone hurry and get some berries? May?" The girl moaned.

"What do you need berries for, don't we have anything else?"

"Of course we do, but for a full meal you need your meat, your grains, dairy, _and_ your fruit." The boy said all-knowingly.

"But it's already almost dark! I won't be able to see!" Slapping her forehead with her palm, she groaned. "If I had my Bulbasaur, I would have been able to have it light up the way with its Flash."

"My Starmie has that ability." I said absent-mindedly. Regardless of wanting to slap myself for practically volunteering myself, I merely stood rigid awaiting the decision, hoping I would go unnoticed.

"Why don't you go with May then?" He suggested. My insides began to tighten as I turned my head to see the girl - she did the same. We eyed each other before quickly turning away, neither of use accepting or rejecting the offer. I didn't want to accept, but it would be rude not to.

"It's fine with me." May said finally, returning one of her Pokemon to its poke ball. "Thanks for helping, Misty. I'm sure it'll be a quick job."

"Yep." I agreed with fake cheerfulness. Returning my Starmie as well, I clipped the balls onto the belt loop of my shorts.

As we were departing, May hurried and retrieved our bags to place the berries in. Feeling something tug down at my foot as she did so, I looked down to see who other than little Pikachu.

"Pikachu?" I noted obviously. Seeing that it had gained my attention, the little rodent Pokemon pointed in the direction in which we would be heading.

"Pika-pi." I took a moment to try to explain its actions.

"You want to come?" Pikachu nodded vigorously. It slapped its chest before making several sparks fly from its cheeks, then waved its arms as high above its head as it could.

"Oh, uh…" I studied the mouse. "Electrify everything?" It shook its head. "Lightning in the sky, you think the weather will be bad? It'll start raining?" Again it shook its head, before repeating the motion. "Electricity in the air, lightening… Light up the way!"

"Pi-pikachu!" It cried out happily, before springing up to my shoulder. I smiled.

"I don't need to go then, if May has Pikachu." I said loudly as the girl retreated back to me with the bag. She moaned.

"No, Misty. You _have_ to come. I'm not keen on the idea of going by myself." She admitted. I twisted my head towards the gang, who were all already occupied already with other things.

"Fine. But let's be quick about it."

In unison we both looked up. The light blue tint of the sky was already fading into a dark colour.

Leaving our camp, we stepped carefully down the pathways, glancing from tree to tree as we passed them. By the time we had ventured deep enough into the woods to find some berries, that light fading colour in the sky had already faded to an unwelcoming darkness.

"Call out your Starmie," May said worriedly, glancing around frantically. Doing as the girl requested, I pulled from my side the Pokeball containing the star Pokemon. Sending it out immediately, I ordered it and Pikachu to light up our way.

I was thankful Pikachu had come along after all, because on its own I doubt Starmie could have provided the comforting light that both of them mustered together. However even with the light falling on the branches of the bushes and trees, it was hard to differentiate the edible berries from the non-edible.

"Why didn't he ask us to do this earlier?" May asked as she plucked a stem of berries from the bush next to us.

"Good question." I replied as I examined the area. After the girl placed the berries she had plucked into her pack, we both continued down the path in search for more.

Seeing as though it was the two of us, a pang of curiosity or perhaps bravery hit me, and I felt it necessary to take that precious time to interrogate her.

"Why do you seem so low lately?" I inquired with fake concern. Walking ahead of me, May did not hesitate to answer, nor did her feet miss a step.

"Low? I'm not low at all." I weighed her answer. I knew it was a lie, for her generally natural happiness and peppiness seemed duller than ever. However I figured at least she was seeing me for me--hopefully the good me--rather than the lies Ash had fed her, hence why she had allowed me to come in the first place. But she still did not seem at ease.

"Ever since I joined you guys you seem to have become much distant and unwilling to talk to me."

"Misty, it's nothing. I enjoy having you here." Another lie coming straight through her teeth. I watched her back as we both journeyed down the path, my Starmie and Ash's Pikachu in front of the both of us, the light illuminating from them shining up our way.

"I can't help but feel Ash had fed you lies about me that would sway your opinion of me." I pushed. I didn't really want May to dislike me. One person disliking me was another person against me. But I was in no way even fond of the girl. I disliked her more than ever. However any information she would feed me about what Ash had been saying was much appreciated.

"Who said Ash said anything about you?" She questioned. "You two seem pretty close to me." So that's how she was going to play the conversation. Just keep turning all the questions back at me. I could do the same.

"We are close." Well, we were. "But lately he seems to be avoiding me, and he has gotten much more angry at me than he would have in the past. Is there a reason?" The girl continued her pace ahead of me with ease.

"Well maybe you said something that offended him. You did instigate the fight after all. I wasn't there when it happened in the forest so I don't-"

"First of all," I cut her off. "He instigated it. Secondly…" I paused. "You're right, you weren't there. So it's funny how you knew it happened in a forest." The girl continued walking, although she allowed a few seconds of silence to prove my case that Ash and her had talked about me.

"You were outside!" She said, abruptly turning around, causing me to clash into her. We both backed away from each other in an instant as though we were disgusted to have touched one another. Her sudden outburst almost scared me, but I calmed quickly and eyed her. "I mean all there really is around Pallet is a small town and a forest. Where else would you be?" Now Pikachu and Starmie had halted their walk to turn around and eye us--well I couldn't exactly say Starmie was eyeing us as I couldn't see its eyes, but I assumed it to be so.

"No, you're right." I forced a smile. "I shouldn't have assumed something like that." I began walking forward, leaving the girl eyeing me suspiciously before she slowly followed after. After a few moments, I tried again. "Are you and Ash really close?"

From behind me, with just a single word she responded "Yes." The one word alone made me want to turn around and yell at her, but I course I wouldn't. I merely calmed the emotions that wanted to seep through and allow themselves to control my actions before continuing.

"Does he ever talk about me at all?" I stayed alert for the answer, keeping the crunching of the small pebbles on the pathway under my step as quiet as possible. If she said no, she knew I would know she was lying. Every friend mentions their close friends at least once. And if she said yes, I had her cornered.

"Yes." She said once again. I smiled in the direction of the two Pokemon marching in front of me. Diverting my attention to another matter for a moment to leave her hanging, I returned to the original reason we were there.

"There are some berries over there." I pointed off the path. May seemed to have totally let the reason we were there slip her mind, and she quickly took the opportunity to march into the grass and get away from me. Pikachu quickly followed after her.

Returning with the berries in her bag, we continued our stroll down the dirt trail once again. As all was returning to its calm state, I aroused the irritating atmosphere again.

"Ash and I don't really talk much anymore." I admitted. "We used to be best friends, but things are so much different now. Did I do something wrong? Does he ever say anything bad about me?-"

"Look, why are you so interested in knowing this stuff about Ash? I'm his good friend, and if he chooses to tell me things, I would be a bad friend to just tell everyone who asks about it."

I turned around immediately to face her, causing her to stop in her tracks immediately. I was so close to letting the words 'you're not his good friend,' slip out, but I heaved a deep sigh instead.

"You're a good friend then." I said with an obviously fake smile, not even bothering to mask my anger.

Whirling around once again, I now walked at a quicker pace.

"Look, I know you don't like me," May called after me.

"Whatever would give you that idea? I have no reason at all to dislike you." I responded, whirling back around once again to see the girl. "I think you're a good person. I just feel so frustrated with this whole Ash disliking me thing. I'm sorry if I'm coming off as disliking you, May. But I do like you." It was only half a lie. I didn't think May was a bad person at all, I just didn't like her.

The girl looked up to me, a small smile forming on her lips. "Thanks, Misty…" I let my mouth fall open without knowing - was she really taking me seriously?! Of course I didn't mean those lies I had fed her.

"Hah, yeah…" I said awkwardly, regretting telling her I liked her.

"I always thought maybe you didn't like me… but I guess that's 'cause we never really 'talked talked.'" She commented.

"Well now I'm glad we did then, if it will clear things up." I replied, looking back and forth past the trees for any signs of berries.

"You shouldn't be so worried about Ash disliking you… I mean, you guys are great friends!" I nodded my head.

"You're right. Thanks so much May." I smiled. "I'm glad we finally talked, I feel like things will be much less awkward around us now." May let out a small laugh.

"Yeah!" She said with forced enthusiasm. I flashed her another smile before turning around and pointing ahead. "There are some berries over there."

"I'm on it!" She said scurrying off with much more vigour than before.

Almost immediately I let that stupid grin fall from my face. Spending time with May was one of the most annoying chores I ever had to perform. Cleaning Cerulean gym at least gave me time to myself, rather than having to argue and aid someone I despised.

May wouldn't help me, and she wouldn't answer any of my questions.

I sighed to myself as I rubbed my arms; it was much colder than it had been since we'd left camp. Enough berries or not, it was about time to return back. Pulling another one-eighty degree turn, I faced back the way we had come from.

May was a good person, and she was a good friend. It was pitiful but I somehow wished we could have be born into different situations that would have prevented me from hating her. On the one hand, I wanted to laugh at every time she even considered my words of liking her true. Every time she commented on something, I just wanted to yell at her with the anger I had built up directed at her.

But on the other hand I felt ridiculous with myself because somehow I actually did wish we could have been friends. It was a shame we couldn't be. I hated the thought, but I did want to be friends. But it wasn't possible. I mean, I guess it wasn't exactly her fault my best friends had used her to replace me, but it was her fault for being all over Ash.

Wait…

"Misty, are we going back now?" The girl called out as she approached me from off the path.

"I'd like to." I responded.

"Pika-pi!" The yellow Pokemon waddled up to us, a stem of berries clutched between its two small arms.

"Thanks Pikachu!" May and I said in unison. We looked to each other and each gave a tiny effort of a laugh. As May bent down to receive the berry from Pikachu, I found myself frowning at her.

It really was a shame.

* * *

Fin! I hope the chapter was enjoyable, I tried harder this time around to make the actualy quality of the chapter good. And once again, I am so so sorry for the delay! I hope this chapter was worth it though? Anyway, please **REVIEW!** I am in need of critiquing. :D


	13. By the Sea Side

**Obstruction**

**Chapter Thirteen: **By the Sea Side

By: Marisa

Hello all! It's been a hard few weeks since my last update - schoolwork here, after school activities there. I've been meaning to send in this chapter for a while but I haven't really been going on my computer a lot lately due to school and other things. I couldn't just leave you all waiting though after all of your fabulous reviews! Thanks so much! And I'm really so so so sorry! I know I said I'd have this chapter in 1-2 weeks ago (that's pretty long ago, ACK!) but just a lot of things came up! I deeply apologize! I won't go that long without an update again. I hope you aren't all too angry about that.

Anyway, I worked hard to finish this chapter (hard because I really had to push myself to write it,) so I hope you all enjoy it.

Hopefully school will not slow down my updates too much, however I'm not doubting that it will. Sorry for that!

Anyway, back to "**Obstruction**"….

And don't forget to…

**Read **& **REVIEW****!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or anything associated with creating the franchise.

* * *

_Last time: Now on the road, one must prepare their own food from whatever ingredients they can find. Misty and May were nominated to go into the forest to find some berries. The two acted with hostility to each other, but eventually decided to try to be on good terms with one another. Misty felt saddened by the fact that, had they met under different circumstances, her and May probably would have been good friends. Trying to be put the bad feelings behind her, she decided to try make amends with her companion._

* * *

Often there are times when I think life is almost exactly like a soap opera. There are always dramatic events, twists, and turns.

It's almost as if each of us are the characters in one giant novel, and every action we conduct is another step forward through this massive literature. There are times when I would wonder if destiny was actually real. Sometimes I've pondered if there is already a path set in front of us and if we are just walking down it until we die.

Life is often associated with the word 'game.' You try as hard as you can to succeed and surpass all others while staying alive until you mess up and it's game over. You never know what's coming next, what enemy you'll encounter, or what's behind those walls. The only way you can know is if you've played it twice.

But we would never know. Is that why this game is always so hard and unpredictable?

Some of us will accept our defeat, and we will come to that Game Over screen with open arms. However some of us are determined not let those mistakes cause us all our in-game lives for as long as we can.

Some of us strive to be alive.

But it's hard to know what it is that you do want. There are moments where you would just like to collapse and give up, and gladly welcome the unknown darkness of death. To no longer have to feel any kind of pain or sadness, and just to be free of all the stresses of life… it's a comforting, yet extremely scary thought.

Then there's the other side of the coin where you feel as though you need to prevail, almost as though you cannot rest when you have not completed all your goals and aspirations. You need to live on and stay strong.

Any kind of human can agree they've felt both these things, but sometimes we cannot decide on whether or not to stop or keep going. It's like racing when you're out of breath; you desire to reach the end and win, but your body cannot take much more. Would you, and when would you stop to let your breath catch up?

I clenched my fists as I stared out at the widespread lake before me. I didn't feel I had the strength to carry on if all emotions I was going to feel were going to be as negative as the ones I felt then, but I didn't want to give up. I did not want to die.

It was almost an insanely scary thought to think. What it would be like to not even be aware that I'd be gone? What would it be like to not even be aware that I was once Misty? To never again feel consciousness?

I would never again remember all the thoughts that tear me up inside, but also encourage me to keep going. The memories of all the amazing times with my best friends, the memories of overcoming obstacles and facing fears. Forgetting all the things I had accomplished….

I _did_ want to live life fully, but it was one of the hardest things I could do. Who knew when that big mistake would happen that would cause my game to end? With that thought in mind, I couldn't even stop wondering what the point of it all was?

Life was tricky. It would throw whatever obstacles it could at you. Those who were strong would make it past them, and those who weren't would fall. I was merely stumbling around things at that point.

There were so many involuntary things thrown into my life that they had steered me right off the road. If it had started when I had met Ash Ketchum, I was unsure. But all I knew was that ever since my sisters had called me home to stay, things had begun spinning way out of control.

I glanced over to my bag beside me, the supplies sticking out the top. Whirling my head around to check, my assistance still had not returned. She'd only been gone a few minutes but I was already growing bored.

It was funny how life could drive us one way, and then turn our car around completely.

That night when May and I had taken a stroll to look for berries, I was expecting to be rejected completely by the girl that resented my presence. But on the positive side, I was certain I would get some answers out of our encounter that would help me progress through my twisted fable.

Ironically, I received the exact opposite. I gained no answers and someone who actually enjoyed my presence. I gained someone to do all the chores and such with. Someone that would involuntarily grow into someone close. Someone I would dare to call a _friend_.

"Misty!" The girl said desperately as she marched down the sun beaten pathway, mounds of clothes stacked up in her arms. The top of the mound far surpassed her line of eyesight.

I sprinted up toward her, quickly relieving her of half the load.

"Thanks." She said quickly.

"No problem, May." I smiled.

It was almost disgusting. I wasn't even having to fake smiles anymore. May and I had actually been spending ridiculous amounts of time together; we were always together since that day.

As I said, it was involuntary that it should happen, but our friendship just started to fall into place somehow.

My mind would constantly remind me how much I hated her and how she was the source of my betrayal, but my heart naturally allowed for us to become close. We grew closer than I had been with anyone in such a long time.

The real friendship I was experiencing with her in those few days and the friendship I'd saved with Brock were the only real things keeping me remotely happy. But at the same time, I couldn't be happy. May aroused such contradicting feelings in me, and the fact we were getting so close to Cerulean wasn't helping.

"Is something wrong?" May inquired as scooped water into a giant wood bucket.

"We're getting close to my home. Have you been to Cerulean City?" I asked as I pulled the box of laundry soap from my backpack. Opening it up, I marched over to where May had filled up the water. I began dumping a considerable amount in the water--we would need a lot to wash the clothes of five people--before sealing up the box and handing it off the May to put it my bag.

"Not really… I've been through it briefly but spent nearly no time there at all." She admitted. I nodded. "Don't you want to go home?" I took a pause from preparing the water to look at her.

"No, not really." I answered honestly. Since we'd become 'friends', I'd become somewhat less hostile towards her, and the majority of my answers to her questions were actually growing truthful. Whether or not she felt the same as I, it wasn't really a big deal. If May still hated me, then that was just another person I'd foolishly begun to trust. But I'd known that already when I had decided to let myself befriend the person center to the reason I was so upset. But keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer they always say.

"Why though?" She asked as she scooped up several articles of clothing before handing them off to me. Receiving the clothes from her, I started on our chore of washing the clothes.

"I think I've made it obvious I really enjoyed my time travelling with Ash and Brock, right?" She nodded uncertainly. I continued, "My sisters are the reason my whole world was taken away form me. My whole childhood was practically with those boys, fighting all the obstacles that blocked us from reaching our goal. I got to see so many different places, and experience them all with my best friends… we were so close." I paused to see her observing me with saddened eyes. I didn't expect her to understand my feelings as she probably had not felt them herself, but perhaps she was attempting to understand me regardless. I appreciated that. "My sisters called me home to watch the gym for a short period of time. I disagreed with the idea, but I did what I had to. The three of us best friends came to a three-sided fork; the path we were to take would determine our future forever. We all knew from there on, things weren't going to be like the norm we were so accustomed to. But destiny had all pulled us in separate directions.

"You never think it's going to be you, but Ash and Brock had been strung together again for another adventure, and _I_ was the one that was not included. I was the one that was left behind. I was to be forgotten about…"

"You weren't forgotten!" May clarified abruptly. "You always talk so negatively about yourself, and you act like no one cares. But they do!" I glanced down at the shirt I had submerged in water, the fabric clenched in my fists as it flowed easily with the waters' ripples.

"If I hadn't of come to Ash's house on the day you all returned, I don't think I would've seen you all for more years to come. None of you would think to come see me, right?" I was fighting the anger inside of me that wanted to burst out. It was like a monster living inside of me; all it's food was my negative emotions, and the more I felt upset, the bigger the monster grew.

"Misty-"

"I'm glad for you though." I lied. "You're practically living the good side of my life. You somehow got thrown into this crazy adventure with two great guys, and from there on you venture around a bunch of different places and do so many fun things. You'll never want it to end, and I hope it doesn't. I hope they don't ditch you like they did to me. You don't deserve it." And no matter how true that was, I couldn't agree with it. There was nothing I wanted more than for May and Ash to somehow be separated, and then for I to permanently be placed back into the group. It was mean, and it was unfair… but what was more unfair was this whole fiasco that had ended with me on the outside.

May was at a loss for words. Her mouth opened and closed several times, her expression thoughtful.

"You and Max are so close, too…" I added. "I'm really envious of you in that aspect,"--or perhaps all aspects--"that you have a close bond with your sibling." I sighed. "My sisters and I have never had a very personal relationship. I love them, sure… but ask them three things about me. I don't even think they could name any positive things." Things were just slipping out of my mouth at this rate. I didn't think what I was telling her was very important, but it was unnecessary to tell everything I was feeling.

"Your sisters and you are leading different lives though," May commented. "Max and I have always been close, and travelling together has made our bond even stronger. Your sisters and you never do things together that you both like, right? If you tried an activity that you can both enjoy it would help…"

Living different lives. That was a reoccurring thought in my head that I could associate with so many things.

Every living thing dies alone… isn't everyone living different lives?

"Yeah, but whatever," I answered simply. I wasn't sure what it was I should say at that point.

"Everyone wants the things they don't have," May commented afterwards. I looked up to her as if asking her to elaborate on what she'd said, and understanding my stare, she continued. "You may be envious of some of the things I have, like travelling with your best friends, or the close relationship with my brother… but there's things about you I envy too." A laugh emerged from me as I heard what she'd said.

"Envy? There's nothing about me to envy." May shook her head.

"You may not accept or believe it, but you mean so much to Brock and Ash. Despite what you seem to think, I don't think I can ever have as strong a friendship with them as you did. And Ash does really miss you and-"

"If you had told me this before, I would have believed you. But at this point, I honestly think I've destroyed my friendships with both those boys. Brock will accept me but I'm positive he pities me, and Ash… Ash won't even glance twice in my direction. He probably can't even wait till we get to Cerulean and I can leave."

"Misty, you're being pessimistic again-"

Suddenly, a huge crash was heard from behind, startling both of us into a small jump. Our attention on our conversation had totally left and was focused on the source of the noise. We glanced at each other slowly out of fear of what could have produced such a sound, guesses running through my head at an extreme pace. My initial thought was that something had crashed into the forest behind us, but there was no need to guess. It didn't take long to see what had caused it.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"And make it-"

"Oh my _Gosh_!" I felt my heart racing not from fear, but more from shock. "Team Rocket? Are you serious! They still follow you guys?" I looked to May to get an answer, only to see her eyes were extremely wide. She glanced at me, either from shock as well, or confusion at my random outburst.

"You ruined our motto, you twerp!" I could hear the familiar female voice of the trio emerging from the forest.

"At least we're becoming recognized," The male commented.

Marching out and into open sight, I almost felt a heart warming sensation when my eyes fell on the oh-so familiar trio of bad guys. They had not changed at all, and feeling such familiar feelings as I had felt when I was young only made me feel happier.

"Well look who it is." The feline Pokemon of the set of three commented. "It's the twerp from before!"

"Meowth!" I gasped. "Jessie, and James! I haven't seen you all in forever!" I examined the three of them. Jessie was practically the same as before, though her hair was even longer, which was already insanely long to begin with….

James looked slightly more buff than he had been previously. He had always been rather weakly looking, but I suppose all the work put into their plans and all the climbing and running they did to get out of situations most have put a bit of muscle on him.

And Meowth was Meowth. He didn't really look like he'd aged at all.

"I guess it has been pretty long…" James commented as he examined me. "What was this one's name again?"

"Hmm, it started with an M I think…" Meowth stroked his chin.

"Shut up, we're not here to make friends." The red-haired women interrupted as she smacked her companions over the head. "Where's Pikachu?"

"You guys actually remember me!" I said excitedly, completely disregarding what the women had said. Who knew one could be so glad to see their sworn enemies?

"This is ridiculous." Jessie commented.

"What's going on here?" May asked uncertainly. I exchanged glances with the girl before reaching for the poke ball on my belt.

"Don't worry May, we can take them." It was almost as if out of no where I had gained this boost of confidence that could push me through any situation. Those obstacles were going to be trampled.

"Where are the other twerps!" Jessie demanded.

"Tell us where Pikachu is." Meowth added. "Just because we're having a reunion here doesn't mean we'll go easy on you."

"We won't tell you!" May and I said together.

I was glad that Team Rocket had stumbled into us instead of the others, as they weren't so far away. If they had taken a slightly different direction, they could have ended up attacking the others rather than May and I.

But then, that crash was rather loud. I was positive someone must have heard it. What was that crash anyway?

"We'll have the other twerps come to us then." Jessie said easily. May and I looked at each other immediately, unsure of what that meant. "Dustox!"

"Corsola!" I cried out immediately, sending out the Pokemon as fast as Jessie had sent out hers.

"Eevee!" May cried out beside me, but as she did so, Jessie was already ordering her Pokemon to make its move.

"Sleep powder!"

"Corsola, use your- your…" Thoughts were becoming fuzzy and my vision was fading in and out. Looking to my side, I could see May becoming victim to a wind of powder falling over her. I had to stay conscious, we both had to…

And that was my last thought before feeling my eyes snap closed and my body fall into the hard ground.

* * *

Yayyy, finally this chapter is complete.

I thought the beginning was actually a pretty good start, but then it all sort of started falling apart at the end. I'm sorry about that. I was trying to fix up the end a bit but I had to go and work on something else, and I couldn't go any longer without updating... so I hope it will suffice.

Once again, I am very sorry about the delay. I still hope that you really enjoyed it anyway! Thank you once again for reading, and please **REVIEW!** :D


	14. Living With the Enemy

**Obstruction**

**Chapter Fourteen: **Living with the enemy

By: Marisa

Aloha, all my little readers:) How are you all today? Sorry for the long wait for this chapter once again! I'm trying to at least get chapters in within a month at a time though (that's still pretty long…), and I have been sticking true to that plan. But hopefully things will speed up more.

I actually had the majority of this chapter finished within the first week of writing the last chapter! But I couldn't figure out how I wanted to end off this chapter… hence the big delay between this one and the last one. Sorry about that.

So I got my old VHS player working a few weekends ago and I was all excited about it. I was looking forward to watching all those little Disney tapes I used to watch when I was young, but then I saw my copy of Pokemon 2000. I put it on immediately. Watching it was actually like going back to when I was young and would watch Pokemon all the time after school. It was incredible! But I still stand by what I said way back then; Pokemon the First Movie is way better than any other Pokemon movie.

I know that was completely random but I was really excited about it, so…yay!

Anyway, back to "**Obstruction**"….

And don't forget to…

**Read **& **REVIEW!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, and do not own nothing affiliated with it..

* * *

_Last time: Misty and May, now becoming close friends, were doing all their chores and such together. Walking down to a lake to do laundry, they talked casually of problems and being envious of each other. All of a sudden, a loud crash diverted their attention from each other. Turning to see what hapened, they saw their enemies Team Rocket. Jumping into battle, Misty and May sent out Corsola and Eevee. Unfortunately, Jessie had already commanded her Dustox to use sleep powder, and now the two heroines were knocked out cold._

* * *

"Misty." Echoes upon echoes repeating my name flowed in one ear and through the other. My eyesight shot into a deep darkness created only by my eyelids, and my consciousness was only halfway down the path to return. As my consciousness awakened, time started to exist once again. Gradually I was beginning to gain the feeling of once more being apart of the earth and realizing my physical state. "Misty." The ringing of sound bothering my ears brought me further from my deep slumber, before suddenly the weights on my eyes lifted. Opening them up, I could see May sitting beside me with a rather panicked expression. I laid motionless for a few moments, before sitting up cautiously and looking around.

It took me over several moments to even comprehend what was going on. In what seemed like a blink ago, I was standing in the midst of a field situated on the shores of the seaside. Looking around at my surroundings, I was definitely not still in that place.

The room May and I were in was poorly lighten, if barely at all. The plumbing pipes overhead were clearly visible, and also contained some leaks as well. The sound of the drops from overhead hitting onto the metal floor beneath our feet resonated loudly. The walls around us could not even be seen, as they stretched so far into the unlit depths of the area.

There was one thing I knew for sure however, and that was that around us were sturdy bars caging us in from all directions. Stricken with panic almost at once, as a reflex my hand flew down to my belt. As reassurance, I felt around for Corsola's Pokeball. It was gone.

"May-"

"Where are we? Misty, my Eevee is gone!" She said almost immediately after she'd seen I'd properly analyzed our situation.

Standing up quickly, I looked around in circles repeatedly. No answer to this situation was presenting itself. What was in store for us was as unseen as even what was beyond the bars that caged us in.

"This has something to do with Team Rocket of course." May said breathing heavily. "They must have kidnapped us!"

"And taken us where?" I asked uncertainly. "They stole our Pokemon, that's a given. It's what they do. But did they just abandon us somewhere to die? I don't want to die like this!" I cried out. Panic and fear were raging through me, and that was only making the situation worse.

"We need to calm down and think of something." May said quickly, standing up as well. Seeing as how I wasn't exactly proving to be the strong leader here, May stepped forward. "Maybe we can break the bars."

"We don't know what's out there." I whimpered in fear as I stared into the distance. Looking to my friend, I shook my head. "No, you're right. What am I thinking! We have to get out of here."

"That's the attitude." She commented with more worry than confidence.

"Do you have anything on you that's strong enough to break these bars?" I asked the girl to my side.

"I don't know, I don't think so. These are strong bars…" I sighed. I was extremely nervous. I had no solution to this predicament, and I had no way of weaselling my way out of it.

"This is Team Rocket." I said to myself. May studied me as though what I was about to say would in some way break us out of the little prison. "They're not smart, and we've beaten them at everything they do. There is a way out of this." She nodded along. "Why did they even kidnap us? I mean, what was the point?" May shrugged.

"It's what crazy people do." She forced out a nervous laugh, however I did not even break a smile. My worry was overcoming any other emotion I had. What if it was the end? What if we were just going to die in that prison? I hadn't said goodbye to anyone, I hadn't made things right with my sisters, my friends, Ash…

I clenched the bars in front of me. The bottle that I'd been filling with my emotions was filling up more and more, and I could feel myself wanting to break down. But I had to stay strong.

Speaking through wavering words, I continued. "They've never shown interest in kidnapping us before. They only care about obtaining our Pokemon."

"Maybe they knew this way we could not retrieve them again and ruin their plans."

"That's true." I noted.

It was almost laughable. Not so long ago I was almost happy to see Team Rocket, but as I stood in that prison I only felt extreme anger towards them. They attacked us looking for Pikachu, and said….

Suddenly a light bulb flicked on in my head. Snapping my fingers together as to exclaim I'd thought up an idea, I grabbed May's attention. "Team Rocket said they'd have to lure the others here since we didn't tell them where they were! That must be why we're here." Hearing my words, May's worried expression turned into an excited one.

"That must be right! They kidnapped us, their friends, to lure them here! Like bait!"

A raspy laughter erupted from the darkness as May finished off her sentence. Sending a huge chill down my spine, the two of us turned in the direction we had heard the outburst.

"You're right about that, little girl." Emerging from the deep shadows, a silhouette presented itself in front of us. At that moment, I felt a great sense of fear. "You're bait."

"Who was that…" May whispered in fear.

As the man stepped into the faint lights hanging over our cage, I identified him immediately a member of Team Rocket. He looked as though he were from a low rank, but regardless of that fact, he had an advantage over us. We were without Pokemon, and also imprisoned.

"Have you been there the whole time?!" I asked, almost feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Pre' much." He snickered. "I'm th' one who has been sentenced to watch you all to make sure ya don't escape.

"Great." I spat.

"Well, where are we?" May demanded. The man before us merely shrugged.

"Your friends have been invi'ed." He answered. "Team Rocket's been informed of one of 'em possessing an extremely strong Pikachu. It'd be a great asset to the team, and therefore we've set up a trade. When yer' friends come, in order to retrieve the two of you, they will have to give up th' Pikachu and whatever other rare Pokemon they 'ave." The man smirked as he observed our faces.

"You can't do that!" May cried out. I remained quiet as the two bickered. This was fine. We always got into messes like this, and Ash always saved the day. There was no reason to stress about something so… typical. Team Rocket was full of incapable idiots, and Ash, Brock and Max would surely think of a way to rescue both May and I while keeping Pikachu.

"So, where are we?" I interrupted. It was funny how my complete fear had dulled down into just being irritated with the wait until our rescue.

"We're in Mt. Moon." The Team Rocket member clarified.

"What, why?" May and I said in unison. The man smirked once again.

"Mind yer' own business." He replied gruffly.

"Really, I think our friends are going to be a while." I stated. "Do you really have anything better to do? Just tell us."

"You all 'er a buncha nosy kids, you are."

"We're a bunch of _bored_ kids," I corrected. My heart was still beating two times too fast, but I was feeling much less fear than I had been moments ago. May however still looked frightened. I couldn't see why. It wasn't as though the man in front of us was a threat. But then again being imprisoned in a mountain was a little weird….

"Alrigh' alrigh'. It won't make a difference if I tell ya anyway. We're clearin' outta here as soon as we get th' Pikachu." I nodded along, encouraging him to continue.

"Well, in th' past, Team Rocket used this place as a base. We were workin' around here, before our work got interrupted…

"While we were 'ere, some members worked on building a laboratory underground. This is where you are now. It never was fully completed. As you could probly tell, the lab project was abandoned, as was the rest of the mountain.

"There are some other Rocket members around down 'ere, but in this case… it was really jus' a matter of keepin' you somewhere where you all couldn't escape." The man said. I raised my eyebrows.

"Really, why would you, and all of Team Rocket go to all this trouble for _one_ Pikachu…."

"Members Jessie and James 'ave told us repeatedly that this Pikachu is incredibly strong, that is has even beat legendary Pokemon! Something that strong for such a weak species… it's incre'ible."

"Honestly, I'm surprised Jessie and James could even pull the plan off this far." May interjected. I nodded in agreement. The Rocket member in front of us shrugged as if to show he was indifferent to the matter.

"How are our friends getting here to rescue us?" I inquired. The man grinned before responding.

"The team members standing around out there will deal with it." He said, gesturing effortlessly behind him. "They'll get th' Pikachu, and then give us the signal to let you go."

"This seems faulty." I commented. "They have no way of seeing us to know if we're actually here. You could take the Pikachu and flee without setting us free… you could even take us with you." The Rocket member grinned at me, showing off a gap in his teeth.

"That's th' way we work. Has Team Rocket ever been fair?"

"That's not right!" May whined immediately. The man before us shrugged.

I drew in a deep breath before pressing my back against the bars that surrounded us. Allowing myself to slide down them, I found comfort in sitting quietly on the floor. May consistently threw cries of disagreement to the Team Rocket member, and he merely shrugged them off. It was tiring and boring to listen to the two.

As they carried on their little argument, I sat trying to imagine our friends' reactions to the news that we'd been kidnapped. Was Ash flipping out at the fact that I had been taken out of his life again? Or did he not care at all? Was he going to come to rescue me, or was he coming to rescue his dear friend May, while I was just an addition to that reward? Or perhaps he wouldn't even want to come. Pikachu was his most important friend, and he would never consider throwing that friendship away….

How long had we been in there anyway?

I sighed. Brock and Max would think of something. Max was May's brother; he would do anything to save his sister, even if it meant giving up a Pokemon. Brock and I were good friends, but how good of friends were we?

But was it selfish of me to just assume that any of them would even consider tossing their Pokemon away just for us?

"May," I interjected quietly into their little battle of rebuttals. "Do we really want to make Ash and them suffer and give up their Pokemon just because of our mistakes?" May's face went blank.

"What do you mean?" She said, asking for clarification.

"It's our fault that we're in this mess… Actually, it's mine." I said pausing. "If I hadn't have gotten all buddy-buddy with Team Rocket, I doubt we could have even been captured. I was too stuck in the past to realize…."

"Misty, don't think like that! It isn't your fault!" She denied quickly. "And we'll get out of here in no time, and everything will be alright."

"No it won't." I answered simply. "Because I've led us into this trap, now Ash and perhaps even Max and Brock will have to give up their Pokemon… their friends. And it's not fair." I stated. "It's not fair to them."

"Misty…" The girl began at a lack of words. "It isn't your fault… why are you always so pessimistic! We get out of these kinds of jams all the time." May nodded with confidence.

The Rocket member was eyeing us sharply, as if we were about to release some information on an escape plan. I guess it was rather stupid to say our friends would find a way around giving up their Pokemon… Team Rocket would take that to mean they'd have to pull the fast one first. I shook my head.

"They'll just give up the Pokemon and we'll be out of here." I repeated the original plan, trying to erase my tracks and move forward. The only thing I could do to be safe was to convince this Team Rocket member that our friends would do things fairly. Perhaps then Team Rocket wouldn't make any 'special preparations.'

"Rather pessimistic there." The man before us commented. I looked up at him, and at the time our eyes met, I felt extreme discomfort. I averted my gaze before answering.

"I'm not pessimistic. I just see things how they really are." The man nodded.

"You must be a _sad _little girl. Did your boyfriend break up with you?" He mocked, his laughter afterwards sending chills down my spine. I shot him an evil stare.

"Mind yer' own business." I repeated smugly in a mocking tone. The man laughed.

"Look at this girl tryin' to act all tough and cold like she been so wronged." The man cackled, the sound of his laughter carrying on repeatedly through the cave.

I felt an extreme amount of anger burst into flames in me, but I ignored it. Now wasn't the time to freak out. May and I had to remain calm until our pending rescue. "Yeah, _I'm _the one trying to act tough. Do you feel good about making fun of _kids_?" The man's maniacal smile wiped right off his face. He may have felt powerful, but he sure didn't have the intelligence to even supply a proper come-back.

"'Ow many gym badges 'ave you won?" He asked. My eyes widened. That was unexpected and totally irrelevant.

"I _am_ a gym leader." I stated cooly, but wanted to kick myself for afterwards. Was that the kind of information I wanted to be giving my enemy? The man grinned.

"'Ow would you like to join Team Rocket?" He proposed. My jaw dropped at those words. "You 'ave got the experience as a Pokemon trainer, you seem to 'ave some pain drivin' you, and you're cold." The man stated.

What was this man thinking? Why was I even getting this offer? Did I seem like that bad of a person? Why was he asking me to join Team Rocket? That was a thought that had never occurred to me… ever. I always saw them as my mortal enemy; everything they did was evil and morally wrong. Plus, I've never been invited. And how could this man think I was cold? Would a cold person befriend the girl who stole her best friend from her? No!

"Join… Team Rocket…" I pondered. What would that be like? I could easily get revenge on everyone who had wronged me… but I couldn't do that. How could I even consider that for a moment?

"Misty…!" May whimpered as if I was actually considering such a ridiculous thought. But was it really so ridiculous?

Team Rocket wasn't exactly evil… were they? Jessie and James… well, James didn't seem evil. He seemed like a regular nice guy. But how could I say Team Rocket wasn't evil? They stole Pokemon. They stole friends. They tore people apart…

I felt a pang of great sadness even thinking about all the Pokemon that had been stolen. I had always wanted to rescue all of them, but had I ever considered how hard it must have been for them, the Pokemon? How could Team Rocket break apart friends and families of Pokemon and humans apart? It was like my sisters… stealing me from my friends.

"If you let us out of here I'll join." I offered, the words themselves seeming disgusting touching even my own tongue. The man laughed.

"Please, like we want you on th' team that bad enough as to risk this procedure. I'm not that stupid." I rolled my eyes.

"You sure fooled me." I responded. "Why would you even offer it then? How else was I supposed to join if not by leaving this cage." I spat venomously. The Rocket member didn't respond. "Exactly. Not like I had any intention of joining anyway." I revealed. I looked to May. "Well it was worth a shot in a chance at getting out." I reassured her that those were my intentions.

"You're missin' out. You _could_ be a great asset." The Team Rocket member pressed on.

"Is this how you get all your members?" I asked. "You just assure them how good they could be on Team Rocket? Because you don't know me, or my skill with Pokemon at all. So how would you even know!" I spat through frustration. The man laughed.

"This is the exact attitude we need!" I rolled my eyes.

"And when I said I'd join, you wouldn't let me. So I don't get what you're trying to do. You can keep saying…" I paused. The floor beneath us was rumbling. I gripped onto the cool metal bars beside me out of safety, regardless of being unable to fall over as I was already sitting. The three of us simultaneously looked to the ground. Was an earthquake happening?

"What was…" May began.

"Was that an earthquake?" I inquired quietly before standing up. The man amongst us whirled around quickly before laughing. Both May and I looked to each other sporting very confused expressions. Was this man crazy?

"Your friends must have actually come for you!" He laughed. "Battling the Rockets upstairs? And… losing?" The man grinned. "I guess they wouldn't give up the Pikachu for you lot." May shook her head.

"They're not going to lose!" She cried out. I merely sat there.

So really, Ash wouldn't even give up his Pikachu even if my life was on the line… or May's. He would allow us to possibly be killed just so he could have his Pikachu. No, no. That wasn't right. This was just me being selfish. How could I expect him to give up his Pikachu just for me? Why was I being so selfish? Besides, he was fighting _Team Rocket_. I was sure he didn't really expect the two of us to be hurt down here. Maybe that's why he didn't give up Pikachu.

Why was I even thinking so hard about it?

Mumbles of voices were heard overhead. The great amount of rock upstairs even muffled the loudest of sounds. How could we really tell if it was Ash, Brock and Max? Maybe it was a trick.

I clenched the metal poles in front of me, bracing me for what I was going to do. If Ash was going to find us, I had to do something to let him know where we were. Inhaling a deep breath of air, I screamed out as loud as I could.

"ASH!"

May jumped at my huge interruption, before joining me in yelling. "ASH!"

"BROCK!"

"MAX!"

"ASH!"

"SHUT UP!" The man before us exclaimed, his hands jumping to his ears.

"ASH!" I continued. The man flashed a furious expression; his face frightened me and stopped me downright from making another noise. It was the expression of a crazy man… but that was expected. You would have to be crazy to even join Team Rocket.

"ASH-" The man lunged forward, reaching his hand through the bars and clamping it down on my mouth as if to silence me. Panic lurched in me in me as soon as the contact between us happened. I reached my hands through the bars and shoved his body as far as I could from the prison.

"Don't touch me!" I cried out hysterically as I staggered backwards.

The man eyed me down as if I'd committed a great wrong in shoving him. My fear I'd felt previously had been reborn and multiplied by four. I looked to May for aid, and she looked as frightened as I did.

"ASH!" I dared to scream again, my scream trembling due to fear.

"Misty!" The echo of my name traveled through the darkness and to my ears. It was faint, but I heard it. My heart began to race even more, my fear split into excitement, and my eyes released newly born tears.

"ASH! We're here!"

* * *

Ta-daaaa! Chapter 14 is finally complete! I would like to thank you all so much for being patient with my chapter updates. And I'm really sorry about them taking forever... and I'm sorry if this chapter was a little badly written.. because it kind of was lmao. I'd like to thank all my reviewers for continuing to read my story despite slow updates and rushed chapters! I love you all:) And dont forget to **REVIEW!**


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